Chasing the Lark
by Shadow-Phoenix-Rider
Summary: Captain Zavvi and Corso Riggs continue on to Coruscant to try and get back her ship from that thieving Skavak! Unfortunately, things are never as easy as they look.
1. Carrick Station

Captain Zavvi had never felt so happy to see Carrick station. With her Corellian XS freighter the _Skylark_ stolen by that smug scumbag Skavak (who was also Corellian, funnily enough), the Twi'lek's wings had been clipped, and she was forced to make use of public shuttles, and as each hour ticked by, she felt the loss of her freighter all the more keenly. It was just a convenient form of transport and her livelihood; the _Skylark_ was her home too, and when she wasn't feeling depressed at its absence, she was seething with rage and concocting what exactly she'd do to Skavak as punishment.  
Someone next to her stirred, shaking away her graphic plans for Skavak. It was Corso Riggs, the mercenary who'd taken it upon himself to come with her and help get her ship back. It wasn't entirely on his good will; Skavak had stolen his most treasured blaster pistol, and he was anxious to get it back. But also Zavvi had let the young man join in a fit of kindness. He'd been helping her ever since her ship was stolen to recover it, even fighting beside her to assist. When his employer and colleagues were brutally slaughtered by one of their own, he'd no place to go, so Zavvi had offered him a place on her crew, on her ship when they got it back.  
As their shuttle touched down in the hangar, the Twi'lek turned to him.  
"Ever been to Carrick Station before, Riggs?" She asked him good-naturedly. Corso shook his head.  
"No. I ain't been very far out." He told her, and she hesitated; she thought he'd never been off Ord Mantell. But there was no time to ask, as the other people on the shuttle were gathering their stuff too, and the last thing the captain wanted was to be trapped in a sea of slow people.

As they spilled out of the hangar, Zavvi guided the mercenary to the lifts to the main part of the station.  
"We need to stock up and rest some before we head out again. As much as we need to find Skavak before he moves on again, we'll be in no shape to chase him if we're tired, hungry and smelly." She pulled out the tickets they'd received from Syreena, giving them a good look over as the lift hissed. "Interesting...These are tickets to the ship the Esseles." She mused, looking them over. "Goes back and forth between this station and Coruscant. Should be arriving...Tomorrow." She looked up at the chrono thoughtfully provided in the lift. "Ah, it's not long before it's the night shift here. That'll be a good time to get a room for the night and rest for a spell." She looked over Corso's shabby gear, which she could only assume had been cobbled from whatever he found in the field. "And you, farm boy, need to get some better armour. Last thing I want is my crew mate to see the inside of a kolto tank because I didn't provide him with the right gear." She noted a slight tremor in his body when she mentioned the tank.  
"Yeah, I'd rather avoid that, if that's okay." He nodded, smiling weakly. Zavvi raised an eyebrow.  
"Don't like the tank?"  
"No. Well, uh, I understand what it does and that it's good and all, but it's that mask..." The Mantellian shivered. "Not right, ya know?" The alien nodded in understanding.  
"Yeah, I understand. I don't mind them, but they do feel a little claustrophobic. I'll keep that in mind." She smiled warmly as the lift stopped, and the doors slid open, the two striding out into a corridor. She heard someone call out to her, and noticed a portly male Twi'lek beckoning to them. Curious as to what he wanted, but wary with their bounty, she approached, one hand never far away from Flashy.

"Captain Zavvi, I presume?" He asked her.  
"Yeah, who's asking?" Corso hovered close to her back like some demonic shadow, and though she didn't really appreciate the fact he was acting as her 'protector', there was little doubt his form bred honesty.  
"A friend, Captain. I understand you are in the unfortunate position on having Rogun's mark on you." Zavvi frowned, remembering the bounty hunters that had attacked her and Corso when they were trying to get off Ord Mantell. The male Twi'lek continued on without waiting for the female's response. "You are not alone, Captain. There are more of us who do not care for Rogun. A contact of mine can meet you in the Combat sector of this station, and teach you some little tricks to help even your odds, among some other things." Zavvi's eyes narrowed.  
"What's the catch?"  
"No catch aside from never contacting us again after we've concluded our business. We are helping more than just yourself, you see." The mercenary tilted his head to look at the captain, waiting for her reaction. Her eyes flicked to his.  
"Anything you wanna add, Riggs?" She asked.  
"Seems like a good deal, Captain, but you're the boss." Corso admitted, stepping back a bit so he was less threatening to their contact. The smuggler considered this a few seconds, before delivering her verdict.  
"Alright, it does sound good. Just give me a moment. Corso?" She turned to him.  
"Captain?"  
"Take these credits and get yourself some good armour, and hook us up with a room for the night. I'll go and see what this guy has to teach." She looked back to the Twi'lek. "Unless you need my partner too?" He shook his head, and when Zavvi looked back to the young man, she saw he was going to protest.  
"We should stick together, Captain. You dunno if he ain't got agent wanderin' around here-"  
"Corso, this is a Republic space station." She nodded to an armed Republic soldier wandering past them. "You really think he's going to risk a scene here?"  
"But...You dunno, Captain, those bounty hunters were in the hangar an-"  
"Riggs." He was silenced, sensing her tone was cooling. "I am perfectly able to take care of myself. I'm not twelve years old." She slapped the pouch of credsticks into his hand. "Now, better armour, and rooms for the both of us. That's an order."  
"Yes, Captain." He nodded meekly, retreating. The older Twi'lek's eye contact caught his, and gave him a sight that could only be described as: 'I know how you feel, mate'.

* * *

Corso didn't know what the Captain drank, so he decided to leave for her to order whatever she wanted. He sat at the bar, in an easily visible place, looking for her to come back. The mercenary had found some nice plasteel armour that was better than what he'd been wearing, and hoped it was what she was looking for; he didn't want to disappoint her. He wanted his Captain to be proud of him, to see him as an asset, not a handicap. She was a powerful woman, her strength practically emitted from her. And Corso found himself becoming very interested in her. She wasn't a lady who needed his protection, who needed anyone. It both excited and scared him. He wasn't thinking of trying to woo just yet, but knew deep down it would be an uphill struggle. There was nothing to his name, and there was no way he would outmatch the other guys in suaveness; he wasn't like Skavak, knowing just what to say to get a woman to swoon. He was just a young man with a love of weaponry. That was all, no more, no less.

He was snapped from his thoughts as he noticed Zavvi coming back, and he couldn't help a little smile when he saw her. His eyes briefly traced over her, noticing nothing had changed except the addition of a blaster pistol to her other side. _Interesting..._ He thought to himself.  
"Didn't order ya anythin', Captain, hope ya don't mind. Jus' didn't know what you wanted, s'all." Corso greeted her with a smile. "Did the contact pan out well? I see you have a Coil-Cell Needler." He cocked his head to look at her new weapon. "Don't seem them around often. It's new, looks easy to mod..." His eyes flicked back up to hers, which were wide with astonishment. He blushed. "Sorry, Captain, can't help it."  
"No, it's fine; Viidu said you knew a ton on blasters and stuff, but I didn't know how much. Give me anything you got on tap." She said to the bartender, who nodded, handing her a glass of some liquid Corso didn't recognize. "He was a very good contact. Gave me lots of good info and gave me some training." She patted her new gun. "That's why I took so long. He was training me the art of being a gunslinger."  
"Gunslinger?" Corso couldn't resist a smile as he took a sip of his beer.  
"Yes, it sounds silly, but it's using two guns in combat instead of one. Means I'll be making good friends with walls, but also means I've twice the fire power, and I have good accuracy, farm boy. Even with two weapons."  
"I wasn't doubting ya, Captain. Jus' an amusin' name, s'all." He grinned. The Twi'lek took a swig of her drink, wincing slightly as it burnt her throat on the way, but refused to show any more weakness. "I got us two rooms here for the night. Nothin' special, jus' basic."  
"Basic is good. Don't wanna overspend for frilly ends. You just need a bed, some security, and a refresher. No more, no less. My ship has the comfort I require. Sleeping planetside is only temporary." She shrugged.  
"I've slept planetside most of my life." Corso smiled. "It ain't bad. Sleeping out under the stars is really quite something." His gaze glazed somewhat. "This is the best feeling, though. A sky full of stars, a new planet waiting across the galaxy...It never gets old."  
Zavvi saw the chance to indulge her curiosity, taking another swig and leaning a little closer, like they were old pals sharing war stories.  
"I thought you'd never been off Ord Mantell, farm boy." She grinned. He looked to her, eyes unglazed, but seeming to hold a strangely sage look about them.  
"You know that much about me, Captain? It's a rare woman who can meet a man and know his whole life just by talking." He spoke softly, and she frowned slightly at him. For a supposedly simple man, he seemed bafflingly enigmatic sometimes.  
"It's just what I heard, Corso." She replied, swigging her drink again as he did the same with his. "But this life...It's the reason why I've never settled down." The spacer wasn't expecting him to nod in understanding.  
"Hmm. There's something about cities. All that plasteel and concrete. Weighs too much to ever feel free." The Mantellian spoke, staring down into the last remnants of his beer, collected at the bottom of his glass. Zavvi did wonder just how old he was. From looking, she assumed he was about around her age, in his twenties. Yet from how he spoke, she wouldn't have been surprised if he was older. But he was so naive sometimes...She shook her head, drinking. It didn't really matter. He turned to her with a warm smile that for some reason pulled at her lips too.  
"When I came back to Ord Mantell, I thought that was the end for me." He bowed his head slightly. "Thanks for giving me a way off, Captain."  
"Now you've got me interested, Corso. Just where were you, when you were off 'Mantell?" The smuggler began, but Corso waved her off.  
"Them's tales for another time, Captain." He replied, then with a slight smirk: "Unless you wanna tell me some stories off ya own?"  
Zavvi huffed, downing the rest of her glass and standing up, weaving slightly.  
"If ya gonna be like that, I'mma gonna go to bed." She declared, turning to the barkeep. "You gave me some Coruscanti vodka, didn't you?" She asked him, and looked satisfied with the nod. "'S good value too. Got a kick and a half." She paid for her tab, and Corso rose as he noticed her footing getting more and more unsteady. "Away with you! I'm fine!" The Twi'lek waved at him, and subsequently it was only his quick reactions that kept her standing up.

_So, vodka is not her drink. Huh, interesting._ Corso thought to himself as he kept a firm grip on her elbow. He grinned.  
"Captain, you are not fine. You need to get some rest. We've had a long day, and in your state, I don't think you'll stay upright fer too long." He told her, keeping a strong grip even though she wriggled, trying to free herself. "Stay here, Captain." He paid his tab and proceeded to guide her towards where they were staying the night, trying to keep her upright in a way that gave her the facade of freedom so she wouldn't keep trying to struggle away or get mad. He'd seen that her kicks had deadly accuracy in one particular area on a humanoid's body, and Corso was pretty keen not to experience it first hand.

* * *

Despite her protests that she didn't need help, the mercenary shepherded her safely to their quarters for the night.  
"Get some rest, Captain. The Esseles comes tomorrow, an' I'm sure you do wanna be on there this drunk." He said dryly, letting go of her at last. He was amazed that one glass of vodka could affect her so, but he assumed everyone had their weaknesses, one way or another.  
"Nome. Ya get sum sleep too, farm boy." Corso frowned at her as she began to subconsciously copy his accent (badly). "I'mma still ya Captain, ya know. Ya do as I say!" With that, she stepped unsteadily into her quarters for the night, the door swishing closed behind her.  
Corso rubbed his face. Just what had he got himself into? No matter. Their shenanigans on Ord Mantell had worn him out more than he'd expected, and he would be glad to be able to rest for a little while.

His hand touched his thigh forlornly, where his favourite blaster pistol would have rested. He sighed. _I miss you, Torchy. But I wonder what it's like to lose a starship..._The mercenary pushed that thought to the back of his head, walking to his own room further down the hallway.

He never knew that behind the Captain's door, she was lamenting over that very thing.


	2. Jumping at Shadows

Corso Riggs needed to speak with her. He was standing just before door to the outside, pacing a little. Zavvi didn't know why he wanted to speak with her, but she figured she best just hear him out, just in case.

"You wanted to speak with me, Riggs?" She called to him, and he turned, walking towards her. His eyes were dark and had a focus sharpened to a point. A point that was fixed on her.  
"Yeah, I did." He said, huskily.

Then suddenly he was kissing her and she was kissing him, bodies pressing close, closer, hands gripping and fumbling at clothes, anything they could get hold of. Then there was wall behind her back and he was warm and hot, kissing her hungrily, and then-

* * *

Zavvi sat up with a start, breathing heavily, pinpricks of sweat all over her body.  
"What the fuck was that?!" She swore loudly, running a hand over her face. She'd had some really crazy and messed up dreams before, and some that were very hot and saucy, but never, ever had it involved someone she knew! Especially Corso Riggs. They were just friends, despite the fact she suspected he was starting to crush on her. To have a dream like that about him...It threw the spacer completely off course.

"After I get my ship back, I need to get laid, big time." Zavvi muttered, slipping her headband back on and glancing at the chrono. "Urgh, better get up, the Esseles'll be here soon." She slid out of bed and into the refresher, trying to put the images out of her mind. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but she couldn't help feeling dirty. She shouldn't be having such thoughts about a crew member, especially this early on in their working relationship! The Twi'lek promptly concluded herself mad, and blamed Skavak for it all. If she weren't so worried about her ship, she wouldn't be having weird dreams, she figured. The smuggler did hope that Corso wasn't next door, but he hadn't come round to check on her, as she thought a man like him would do, so maybe he'd got another room further down. Hopefully she could get the images out of her head quickly...Before they met up again...

* * *

"You ready to go, Captain?" A Mantellian accent twanged at her ear, and the Twi'lek looked up at the young man with a bored expression on her face.  
"Slow down, farm boy. They'll be unloading and cleaning the ship out before they'll take passengers, so we'll be for a couple minutes wait." She replied, turning her gaze away as she didn't want to be reminded of those images from her dream last night.  
To her chagrin, Corso sat down beside her, and tried to dig up conversation.  
"You have a good rest, Captain?" This innocuous question made her hesitate, and she turned her head away from him this time, moving a lekku to hide her darkening cheeks.

"I've had better." She replied, almost through clenched teeth. But curse that mercenary, he'd detected that hesitation and was on it like a shot.  
"You had a nightmare?" He asked, kindly. The Twi'lek thanked the stars he wasn't asking for the details, though she almost barked out a laugh at the question. It wasn't a nightmare, but to her it certainly felt like one!  
"Depends what you mean by that." She replied, still not looking at him, the awkwardness of the conversation filling the air around with a clammy dampness. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, but decided not to push her; those were the kind of games Skavak used to play with him, and Corso had learnt quickly to get out or risk digging himself into a hole.  
"Well, my sleep was just blank." He spoke, running a hand through his dreadlocks as he felt a strand was loose. The captain looked to him, finally.  
"No dreams?" She asked, curiously. A ghost of a frown passed over his face.  
"Nope. Nothing at all. Guess I was so whacked afta all the runnin' around we've been doin'." Corso looked back with a grin. "I gotta say, Captain, travelling you ain't been dull yet." At that, she couldn't resist a smirk.  
"You say that when you've got your gun back. What was her name again?"  
"Torchy, Captain." Corso replied. "And I ain't leavin' you." Zavvi looked at him, trying to keep her expression in surprise, and not the mild horror that was tingling in the background.  
"Why's that? And if you say it's because I need protection, I will whack you upside the head." She warned him, but he laughed it off.  
"I value myself enough to not say that." He grinned back, before becoming serious. "No, Captain. It's 'cos, well, you're the only thing I got left. My family's dead, so is Viidu and them lot. I ain't got anywhere else to go." His brown eyes locked to hers. "But if you want me to go, to get off your ship, when this is all done and dusted, then I'll go, Captain. It's your call."

Though the Twi'lek suspected a guilt trip, she detected earnesty in his voice. He wasn't forcing her to keep him aboard, he was only telling it like it was. She was so used to the cloak and dagger approach that she almost felt bad for mistrusting him. She did feel bad for indulging her temptation to leave him behind just because she'd had an awkward dream about him. And it made her utterly ashamed of herself.

_One dirty dream about a crew mate and you're ready to run a mile away and hide under a rock. Are you a woman or a womp rat?! _Zavvi inwardly chided herself. It was just a weird fantasy of the mind, that was it. She'd never paid much heed to them before, why now? She smiled.  
"Nah, you can stay, Corso." The smile became a grin. "Besides, I need someone to haul the heavy cargo for me..." He seemed to brighten as he saw her mood improve.  
"I'm insulted, Captain!" Corso exclaimed, feigning hurt, one hand placed to his heart. "I used to do that back on Ord! I thought I'd get better things to do and get better pay!" Zavvi blinked incredulously.  
"You get paid?! First I've heard of it!"

It was then, when Corso guffawed, that the ice between them was shattered, and Zavvi found herself laughing too, his joy infectious. For a brief shining moment, she wasn't worrying about her ship.  
When the laughter died somewhat, the captain let herself catch some seriousness.  
"But to be honest, Corso, it's gonna be a change of pace." He was watching her, really listening to her. "I've never flown my ship with a crew before. She's always been flown and cared for by me alone, my own little place of recluse." She smiled slightly. "I guess it's time for a change, though. Be interesting to see what it's like with more than just me working her." She turned to him, interest sparkling in her eyes. "I know you're really good with weapons, but what else can you do, farm boy?"  
"Oh, well," Corso blushed, "I can pilot an' navigate a little, but aside from that, I pretty much dunno what I'm doin'." He seemed to shrink slightly, but Zavvi wasn't bothered; he was young, and could still learn.  
"Don't worry yourself, you'll be learnin' quick when you're onboard; gotta be self-reliant pretty quick." Riggs nodded, with a determined look on his face; he would not let her down.

* * *

"Attention. The Esseles to Coruscant is now accepting passengers. All passengers wishing to board the Esseles must report to docking bay 152." The tannoy's drone reached a dozing captain, and it took her a couple of minutes to process it. She punched her partner, none too gently.  
"Oww! What was that for, Captain?" The mercenary grumbled, rubbing his chest. _She's got one hell of punch when she wants to. _He thought to himself.  
"We're going, sleepy head. Up, up, up." She chivvied him.  
"Aww, mom!" He teased her, enduring her swat around his head. "Okay, I'm going, I'm going! Where we headin' to, anyway?"  
Zavvi rolled her eyes.  
"This way, bozo."

Esseles was a big ship, alright. Corso was fairly impressed by her size and shape, and held this wonder until he caught the captain's eye. She seemed sullen, if not a tad deflated. Her eyes were looking to the ship as well, but whilst Corso's brimmed with wonder and childlike curiosity, hers held a world-weary, almost worn thin look. He returned to her side as they boarded and settled into some seats a little way away from the main area of guests.  
"Something's bothering you, Captain." Corso asked gently. She sighed, one that was long and drawn.  
"No ship will ever replace the _Skylark._ It was my home. My everything. And it's gone." He reached out tentatively, hesitated, and then rested his hand lightly on hers, trying to control his need to flinch.  
"She's not gone, Captain. We'll get her back. I swear." Doleful light green eyes stared into his deep brown orbs. He caught a flicker of fear in her eyes. She was vulnerable without her ship, knowing she could be caught in a corner with ease, just snuffed out in a flash. And with bounty hunters after them...

His protective instinct flared. He must protect her. Lay his life before hers. And yet...for the first time, he doubted. Zavvi looked as tame as a kitten right now, but he'd seen her in combat, flashing eyes and coughing blaster, her body moving with a grace and elegance that the mercenary thought she was dancing. He always tried to not look, but sometimes he was drawn to the lithe body with curves in all the right places and- _Stop right there Corso, that's very ungentlemanly._

Trying to shield her and treat her like he thought he should treat her would be practically stamping on a live grenade, however. She hadn't got this far by needing to be propped up all the time, but at the same time, she'd had to sit on all her weaknesses and fears, to protect herself. Being a female Twi'lek certainly wouldn't have made the job any easier, Corso thought. He shuddered at the thought of people trying to put their hands on her. He could only hope she'd broken them.

"I'm gonna go and set my stuff in my room, maybe you should think about the same?" Her voice broke him from his thoughts, and he saw she'd returned to normal. Well, almost normal; he could see a sadness to her eyes and it didn't take much to know why she was so upset.  
"Of course, Captain. Sounds a good idea." He rose with her, walking by her side through the throngs of people. "Think this is gonna be a quiet journey, Captain? Just seems so...eerie, ya know."  
"Yeah. I want some action so I don't go mad twiddling my thumbs." She replied, and Corso couldn't resist a smile.  
"I knew there was something I liked about you, Captain."

At that, Captain Zavvi smiled.


	3. Soft Touch

"Hold still Corso, this one's a doozy." The mercenary gritted his teeth, but he couldn't resist the snort of pain as the fragment of metal was pulled out of his wound.  
"How many more-Ow!-to go?" He asked, flinching at her touch against the tender wound.  
"Well, you're not filled with metal, but I need to deal with this..." The human flinched again as he felt her finger drifting very close to a lightsaber burn.

The Esseles had given the action that both smuggler and mercenary had wanted, but the amount may have been a little too much. Being chased and attacked by an Imperial dreadnaught hadn't been enough; there had been Mandalorians, gigantic droids, explosions, and finally, to top it all off, a Sith! Luckily, they'd made a companion in a Jedi who'd been travelling with them, and with his help, they'd managed to help the Esseles escape from Moff Kilran. Corso smiled as he remembered his captain mouthing off to Kilran with a sweet smile and a devilish look in her eyes that had made his heart miss a beat. Not to mention how she fought...

But he remembered the Ambassador. Asara, was it? He frowned, biting out another grunt of pain as he felt Zavvi tend to one of his shrapnel wounds. She was the lady the Imps were after, and the Mantellian still remembered how callously she told them to let the engineers go to hell, just to release a lockdown. And then how she'd tried to pretend it was necessary and she was a good woman really. His captain had been furious, and the tirade that the ambassador had brought on herself...well, Corso had promised himself to never try and tempt it upon him. Even the Jedi (Tirin, that was his name!) had quailed a little under it. Zavvi had told Asara later on that she'd been in a hair's breadth of getting left aboard the Imperial ship, and it was because of...

The human blinked. Actually, she'd never said why she didn't leave Asara behind. She was pissed off enough to. Though Corso had to admit he'd not paid much attention at that point, as he'd been anxious to leave the dreadnaught before more awful things happened. But he just couldn't think of a reason for the captain not to act on her whims and just leave her behind. Well, there was no use puzzling any more over it.

He heard Zavvi huff, a sound he knew associated with her annoyance with something.  
"What's up, Captain?" He asked, trying to resist the urge to scratch his wounds. He could feel her gaze on the lightsaber wound he earned from the Sith. Although Tirin had kept him occupied, Zavvi and Corso had been harassing him all through the fight, and then he'd turned on them. He'd aimed for Zavvi, but the mercenary had deliberately allowed the blade to strike him first. Thankfully it had gone mostly through armour, with only a small amount of his back scored. He'd need a new chestplate though, he noted to his chagrin. For all her bravado about being able to take care of herself, Corso had noted she didn't at once protest as he took the blow for her. In fact, she'd been more fearful than angry.

"This burn." She said. "Basically, I need your shirt off. Can you stand taking it off?"  
A shock immediately burst in his loins, and a bright blush ignited his face as her words sunk in. Though he fought for a reason to convince her that it was fine, he could keep his shirt on, he knew he couldn't just leave a wound like that to fester.  
"Uh, yeah, yeah, I can do that." He stuttered, gritting his teeth to endure the complaints from his wounds as pulled his shirt off his head, and his hair stood on end in reaction to the sudden cold.

Zavvi hesitated, her eyes drinking up his form. Though Corso's back was to her, she could clearly see his muscled physique that was so often buried under layers of armour and clothes. As well the many scars he'd picked up over the years. She noted with some amusement he probably didn't have a lightsaber burn until now, as his scars could have been a sample of most of the things in the galaxy that would leave a physical scar. _Looks like he grew up tough. And strong..._She thought to herself, and had to mentally restrain herself from touching him to find out just what the extent of his muscles was.

"Captain?" His voice snapped her from her musings, and she mentally swore as she felt her face heat up with a blush.  
"Ah, I was just seeing where and how I could deal with this blighter. He looks nasty and probably feels the same." She replied, ghosting a finger close to the angry gash, and felt (and saw) his muscles contract very slightly.  
"Yeah. Please be gentle, Captain." He pleaded softly. She smiled warmly, dipping her fingers into some kolto gel.  
"I'll do my very best, Corso. Try to relax, if you can, as tensing can make it hurt more. Do you remember having shots?" She asked him, gently stroking her thumbs around the perimeter first, gauging the pain threshold.  
"Agh...I do, Captain." He smiled weakly. "I cried a bit."  
"You must have been a young'n, then. No, my father always told me to relax as much as you can, because the muscle all bunches up and makes it needlessly difficult. Do you best for me, I know it's gotta hurt." Zavvi spoke, trying not to tense up herself. _Tension is transmitted by touch, and will make a patient uncomfortable and less trusting of their medic._ She repeated in her head, words she'd heard long ago. _Remember to always trust yourself and your skills. A patient does not flinch because he wants to, only because that is what his body thinks it needs to do._ The Twi'lek sighed. _I wish it were simpler, like those days. I miss you._

"Arghh!" Corso cried out, fists clenching his arms as he felt her fingers probe into the gash. "By the stars, Captain!" The kolto felt like a thousand needles pricking his sensitive flesh, and tears nipped at his eyes.  
"It's alright, it's alright, I'll be as quick as I can." Zavvi reassured him, feeling his muscles jump furiously beneath her hands and fingers, getting every part of the injury with at least a touch of kolto. It would heal better in the long run, even if he was going through agonies right now. When she was done, she stepped back away from the mercenary, not knowing if he'd lash out at her. Pain could make people animals sometimes.

Riggs felt her leave him, and his wound stung furiously for a couple of seconds before he felt the sensation ebb. Cautiously, he moved his arms and body. It ached a bit, enough to tell him to stop pulling it in strange directions, but not a pain that was too distracting. He looked over his shoulder.  
"Captain?" He called to her, seeing her come back to place some synthskin over the burn. At her silence; "Are you alright?"  
"Yes, I'm fine." She seemed a little distant, but Corso put that down to wanting her ship back, so didn't chase it up. He pulled his shirt back on, settling his chest plate onto him.  
"How far to Coruscant now?" He asked her.  
"We should be dropping out of hyperspace soon." She sighed. "You alright with your armour on? It's not chafing, is it?"  
"No, it's just fine, thanks Captain." Corso smiled, rolling his shoulders. "You're a good medic."  
"Thank you, but I only know the basics. Nothing more." She replied.  
"I know some about it too, but sometimes you can tell the difference between whether people are good or bad jus' by, well, sensin' them, ya know?" He spoke, looking into her eyes. They were tired, drained.  
"Please don't put me on a pedestal, Riggs." The Twi'lek spoke, and then walked away.

* * *

The Esseles limped into Coruscant, and it was a relief for all those on board when the starship finally settled in the hangar, and people arrived to remove the bodies and repair the damage.

Zavvi and Corso easily slipped away through the crowd; despite being the vessel's heroes, they weren't keen on causing a scene, so they left the Jedi to deal with them.  
A minor debacle happened when they attempted to pass customs, as Zavvi's record was not exactly clean, but to Corso's credit he did a good job distracting the droid until Zavvi could slice the console to let them through, as even Corso had an arrest warrant out for him for pissing off Ord's separatist government, as well as his dealings with Viidu. Zavvi was amused to find he wasn't quite the goody two shoes she thought he was.

As they exited the spaceport, the view of Coruscant's great high rises yawned in front of them, and Corso gave a gasp of wonder.  
"Everything on Coruscant is huge! You see these city towers? How many people you figure live in them? Millions?" His naive excitement made Zavvi chuckle.  
"Ah, Corso, you're such a farm boy!" She giggled when he frowned at her, but then her expression softened. "This place has seen better days though. The city towers have lost a few levels, you can see from here."  
"Yeah, didn't the Empire come in an' wreck the place?" He asked, and noticed with interest the smuggler seemed sad.  
"Yes, they did. They killed so many, left very little places not on fire or wrecked. Even the Jedi Temple was razed to rubble..." She looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped. "You'd think the capital of the Republic would be better defended." There was a note of bitterness in her tone. Corso's curiousity got the better of him.  
"You seem to know a fair bit about this place, Captain, and you seem real upset about what happened to it. I understand, of course, but you..." He trailed off, not exactly sure where he was going with it, but hoping she'd understand what he was asking.

There was a pause, and she lifted a gloved hand to the window, resting it palm down. Her voice was soft, barely audible.  
"This was where I was born, Corso."


	4. Put Your Foot Down

Despite Coruscant being Zavvi's birthplace, she was at a loss at where to start to find Skavak, so her suggestion to go around 'shaking people's skulls' until he fell out was not a wise one. Fortunately, Corso had Viidu's list of contacts, and knew of someone who could help them; a gambler known as Darmas Pollaren.

It had been fairly easily to get him on the holo, a man in what seemed like his thirties, who playfully chided Corso for his long absence, but took an immediate shine to Zavvi. Interestingly, she noticed Corso's brow droop very slightly as Darmas flattered her, before giving them his location in the old Guild Market sector.

* * *

By the time they'd reached the Dealer's Den cantina, Darmas had been filled in the whole story, and the Twi'lek noted that Corso's description of where he would be was spot on; at a sabacc table, surrounded by fawning ladies. The mercenary noticed her stiffen very slightly at the sight of the women, but relax when they moved on of their own accord when Darmas came over to talk with them.

"Forgive me for being so forward, but you're more radiant than a Tatooine sunset." The older man purred. Zavvi noticed out of the corner of her eye that her crew mate straightened his back. He bowed slightly, oozing charm. "Darmas Pollaren, at your service."  
Zavvi's lip twitched with amusement, leaning back against the table.  
"I bet you say that to all the girls." She replied with a smirk. She knew his type, and well enough.  
"Nonsense, my dear. I can't remember the last time this dark cantina seemed so bright and lively." Corso rolled his eyes.  
"Give it up old man, she's not your type." He drawled, and for a brief second, Zavvi heard a sliver of steel in the mercenary's voice, and she eyed him. Riggs looked back at her demurely, but he was as coiled as a spring. It was only now Darmas regarded the younger man.  
"Ah, Corso. Good to see you in person, my boy." Darmas smiled sadly. "I'm sorry to hear about Viidu. He was a man of refined tastes and a terrible card player. I'll truly miss him." The mercenary shuffled his feet, breaking eye contact at last.

"Life is like sabacc." Darmas continued. "The trick is to quit while you're ahead and enjoy your earnings. Exactly how I want to spent my twilight years."  
"Doesn't everyone in this kind of work?" Zavvi replied, refusing to be hooked. Normally she'd entertain his flattery and flirts, but she was worried about her ship, and that was more important than a romp. Besides, where would she leave Corso if she went off? He'd be a prime target to be picked off if not on the security of her ship.  
"Indeed." The gambler nodded, before his expression became serious. "Now, I know this isn't a social call. Corso says you have some troubles, and I'm prepared to help." Zavvi drew herself straight up, eyes fixed tight to Darmas's, though she noticed Corso's almost light up.  
"Yes. I need my ship, the _Skylark_, back, and to get some payback with a guy called Skavak."  
"We will find the former if we search for the latter." Darmas assured her. "Corso was equally emphatic about getting revenge of Skavak too." His blue eyes turned to Corso. "Though I think he can be a bit hot-headed sometimes." Riggs tried to compose his face. "Anyway, having met Skavak, I understand completely. Skavak is well known in the galactic underworld. He's earned death sentences from across the galaxy for everything from armed robbery and kidnapping. He's known to be in the Sith Empire's pocket, and he even cheats at cards. I'm happy to help you find him."  
This time, both Zavvi and Corso rolled their eyes. As far as they were concerned, cheating at cards was probably the least worse thing Skavak did.  
"Sound's like he just goes around causing trouble and making people angry at him." The Twi'lek grumbled. "Shame someone hasn't nabbed him."  
"Yes, well, Skavak didn't earn the title 'Jackal of the Stars' for nothing, Captain." Darmas replied. "He's wily and slippery, so we'll have to be on our toes. As soon as Corso mentioned Skavak's name, I alerted my best informants, and I'm getting some interesting leads."  
"What'd I tell you, Captain?" Corso grinned widely, past tensions forgotten. "Darmas can find out anything. We'll have Skavak in no time."  
"Yeah, but that's no use if the info's crap, Riggs." That was his signal to shut up, which he did so. Darmas watched this with interest, and with a knowing smile.  
"You have nothing to fear, Captain; my information is of the highest quality. Skavak recently used the services of a data slicer known as Kixi in the Migrant Merchants' Guild headquarters. Quite talented, I hear."  
"Data slicer..." Zavvi mused. "Either he's wiping his record, or it's one of his many girlfriends." The tone of the last word was darker than the others.  
"No, I don't think it's a romantic relationship, Captain." Darmas shook his head. "Skavak doesn't cavort with aliens - even near-humans like Kixi."  
"So now he's racist, too!" The smuggler exclaimed. "Brilliant! No wonder he's in with the fucking Empire!" The anger that burned made Corso take a half-step back. "No wonder the son of Hutt looked at me like I was a piece of meat; probably thought I was!" She walked away to other side of the room, staring furiously at the wall. Corso and Darmas shared a look; the young man lifted his shoulders very slightly, and elder dipped his head. Neither had experienced this flare of temper before.

A brief silence descended before her shoulders relaxed, and she turned back to Darmas.  
"Sorry Darmas, that was rude of me, please continue." Corso looked very awkward, for some reason.  
"It's quite alright, my dear. I assume you may be right about him covering his tracks, but I think Kixi would be able to help you more. Be careful though, the guild is well armed and doesn't like outsiders." Zavvi nodded, and the seriousness evaporated from Darmas's face. "Excuse me darling, but there's a Chagrian with more credits than sense over there. I really shouldn't let him leave with all his money." And with that, the older gentleman left, the girls seeming to reappear as if from nothing.  
"Lead on, Captain." Corso spoke, slipping back in file as the Captain walked away.

* * *

"Looks like the Guild is operating in this sector. Good for us, don't need to go and hunt all over Coruscant for them." Zavvi nodded, fixing her datapad back to her belt.  
"Yeah." Corso nodded. "Darmas certainly gave us a good start to finding Skavak." The Twi'lek smirked.

"Are you jealous of him, Corso?" She asked sweetly, as they began their walk. He blinked, startled.  
"Jealous? Of Darmas? What do you mean? Sure, I could always do with more credits, but I ain't jealous of him." He replied hurriedly.  
"I was of the impression that you didn't like him flirting with me." She tried not grin too widely as he blushed hard, fighting for words to combat her loaded sentence.  
"Well, it's just that, well, uh, you saw all them ladies 'round him, right? Well, I, I don't think it's right to lead 'em on like that..." He stuttered.  
"You do know they're only attracted to money and power, don't you? Soon as he loses a game, they'll glom to next most powerful person. They're shallow and foolish, don't get me wrong, but they don't need some white knight riding in to 'rescue' them." She told him.  
"Maybe but..." Corso shrugged. "Don't sit well with me. S'like what Skavak used to do...It ain't right, Captain."  
"I never said it was." The smuggler replied. "But you can't go 'round trying to escape every woman you see that you think is being 'mistreated'. You'll make us seem like abused puppies." She gave him a stern look, and he looked thoughtful.  
"You've got a point, Captain." He spoke quietly.

She wanted to tease him some more about his reactions to Darmas's flirting, but in this solemn moment, decided not to, but to ask him something.  
"Corso, was it me, or did Darmas appear to know too much?" She asked him. He looked confused.  
"What do you mean, Captain?"  
"Well...I felt that Darmas knew a lot. In fact, much more than I thought he should know. Like he knew exactly where Kixi was, and far too much about Skavak. Sure, I bet he's met him before, but how much did you or Viidu ever know about Skavak? Not much, I bet, and I can't think of a reason why he'd tell Darmas..." The Twi'lek explained.  
"Maybe he just has a lot of good informants, Captain." Corso replied. "Viidu always trusted him, and nothin' bad ever happened..." He shrugged. "Never really thought about it though, if I'm honest." He looked concerned. "You think there's something up?"  
"I...I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid after losing my ship and all." She shook her head. "It's probably fine, sorry." She looked up to him, and smiled warmly. "Still, you've done well, Corso. We'll get my ship back yet, I think. Thank you."

A great warm smile bloomed over his face.  
"You're welcome, Captain." He replied, before he heard something, swinging his head around. "Captain, did you hear that? I heard blaster fire!"  
"You're not the only one." Zavvi muttered, pulling Flashy and his partner from her holsters, watching Corso slip Sparky into his hands. They crept cautiously around the corner, to be greeted by the sight of Coruscant's security forces scattered along their side of a bridge, crouching behind hastily erected barricades and cover, shooting at groups of what Zavvi assumed to be the Migrants Merchant's Guild members.  
"They're having shootouts in the street?!" Corso exclaimed, almost bouncing on his toes. "And here I thought Coruscant wouldn't be any fun!" Zavvi gave him at first a surprised/concerned look, before she said:  
"You were born to fight, weren't you?" Corso grinned widely, brown eyes bright with energy.  
"Uh huh. Nothin' I like better than a good brawl. Come on, Captain!" He cried, charging into the fray.

Zavvi groaned, shaking her head, before running after him. _You have a strange idea of fun, farm boy..._


	5. Guns and Roses

The smuggler walked with pride and smugness as her backbone, her companion easily keeping pace at her side. Her ship was still missing in action, but the act of rescuing Kixi and turning Skavak's record back into a mire of red flags and unsightly things had put a spring into her step. As well as the fact she'd helped a girl start a new life away from her obsessive boyfriend (she'd been trying not to laugh at Corso's attempts to not look at the dancers in the club, and that he'd been bestowed with a permanant blush whilst they were in there, and she'd spared him her teasing just this once), helped stop a senator get his hands on some slave collar chips (she'd been in the right mind to collar that senator up, and whilst the security officer calmly told her it wouldn't help, she saw the grin that played on his lips, and she knew he was entertaining the thought) and to top it off, had given the Coruscant security forces some breathing room against the Guild.

Zavvi and Corso were returning to the Dealer's Den cantina, when she heard his breath catch.  
"Captain." He spoke, and immediately the Twi'lek's eyes fell on a female Zabrak security woman bent double, clearly in pain. The pair hurried over, Zavvi stooping to look into her concussed eyes whilst Corso busied himself applying some kolto to her wounds.  
"You look like you've taken a pounding. Are you alright? My partner here can give you some basic treatment, but you really need proper meds..." She began, the Zabrak's eyes taking some time to lock to hers.  
"I have...I'm Officer Anstiss...I was...trying to take in a Houk, called Gambo. Been causing a lot of trouble around here...Thought it would be easy." What was a dry joke coughed from her lips. "He took it out on me, as you can see."  
Corso bristled, having done all he could from the woman. She was stable, but really in need of some medical help.  
"I'll give that bully a piece of my mind." He looked to the spacer. "Shall we go teach this Gambo fella a little lesson in manners?"

Zavvi wanted to roll her eyes at his predictable pattern of helping damsels in distress, but thankfully she was in the same frame of mind.  
"Aye. You stay here, and me and my buddy here will sort Gambo out nicely for you, free of charge." His eyes gleamed at that. "One quick question, does it matter how we bring him out?"  
"We need him alive, though I'm sure no-one will...mind if he comes up dead." Anstiss replied. "Be careful though. No-one gets to Gambo without going through his look-out Zooki first. They should be still in the cantina." Zavvi nodded, setting the officer down against the wall, taking the stun cuffs from her belt.  
"You take care, we'll be right back, promise." As she rose to her feet, she lead Corso into the Dealer's Den with; "Looks like the lovely Darmas is just going to have to wait."

* * *

Zooki saw them coming, and immediately alerted his boss, before accosting them, demanding to know why they were here and that Gambo was getting annoyed by all the disturbances, and that he'd be hurt if he allowed the interruptions to continue.  
"Look, I'm not interested in you, just get your boss to come over here so we can have a word with him. It involves the security guard who's hurt and bleeding outside." Zavvi told him frostily, which got the great big Houk to get up and saunter over.  
"She's been talking with that law woman you beat up earlier, boss." The Rodian explained to Gambo. "Might need to teach her a lesson too." Gambo gave a gruff chuckle, but Zavvi stared him straight in the eye, not a glimmer of fear.  
"Look, buddy. You might have the brawn to snap me in two, but it's all going downhill from here. You see, you messed with Coruscant security. That means you stop being small fry, and you become a problem. Thing is, people like me and my friend here are called in to deal with 'problems'. And considering I can pull this blaster and shoot you through head before you can blink, and my friend can cut bits of your anatomy off with his vibroblade, I think you're biting off more than you can chew." Zavvi spoke, her gaze boring into Gambo's. "If you stand down now, me and Riggs here will take you outside quietly and hand you over, and everything settles down from there. If you don't, you and your gang die, simple as that, as my contact tells me she doesn't mind if you end up dead due to 'resisting arrest'." The Twi'lek's grin was as feral as she could make it.

There was a moment of silence from both parties, as their leaders stared one another down. The onlookers were mesmerized; the scatterings of Gambo's gang wanting to see what their leader would do, and Corso watching Zavvi in a fascination at how, without the slightest drop of fear, she was staring this burly alien right in the face, daring him to strike her, her words lightly taunting him. Usually, this would horrify him and he'd scramble to put himself between the Houk and the captain. But no, this time the mercenary was rooted to the spot, feeling things spark in awkward places he didn't really want to consider right now.

Gambo turned away.  
"Maybe...Maybe I gone in too deep. I, I come with you." He replied uncertainly, Zooki staring at Gambo with horror in his large eyes.  
"W-What?! Gambo, wha, what are you doing?!" He exclaimed, but already Zavvi had cuffed the criminal in front of his shocked gang. She nodded to Corso.  
"Deliver this guy to our officer will you, Riggs? And do make sure she gets some care." She asked sweetly. He smiled just as sweetly back.  
"Why of course, ma'am." He guided Gambo out, though the captain could tell the Mantellian may not be passive in his guidance, conjuring a few 'trips' along the way. She turned to face the gang, now being lead by Zooki, who had furious intent in their eyes.  
"I dunno what you did to Gambo, but we aren't going down with a fight!" He shouted, pulling his blaster. The smuggler rolled her eyes.  
"Well, this is ironic; your boss had more brains than you guys have." She pulled Flashy and the Sonic Needler from her holster. "Last chance, you can walk away and live, or I'll turn you into smoking corpses!" She sidestepped a blaster bolt. "Smoking corpses it is then!" She declared, throwing a flash grenade into the fray.

They yelped at the blinding light, whilst the Twi'lek slipped behind the cover of a couch, smirking to herself. Four of them, shouldn't give her much trouble. Bolts snapped against the metal and fabric as they recovered, firing at her hiding place.  
"You're going to have to do better than that!" She shouted, popping up to fire a flurry of shots that filled a Nikto full of burns, and he collapsed with a cry. The attacks renewed with ferocity now their number was only three.  
Zavvi peeked Flashy's barrel just over the lip of the couch, and lifted her head just enough to get a good look through the scope Corso had thoughtfully installed before he'd given it to her. She locked onto an unwary gangster who'd foolishly removed himself from cover due to the fact she was hiding. One gentle squeeze later and Flashy coughed, the boy crumpling to his knees like wet paper.

As she turned around to congratulate herself, she noticed Zooki looming over her with a vibroknife in his hand. Her eyes widened; he must have sneaked around to her whilst she was distracted! The Twi'lek contracted her body, launching a kick into his body with such force as to knock him back into the wall.  
With her cover denied, she vaulted over the couch, Sonic providing suppressing fire to pin the other gangster to his position. She brought Flashy to bear with a hail of plasma that allowed her to advance. Once on top of the man she flicked Flashy around in her hand and cracked him against the face of the gangster, squeezing another shot for the kill.

She turned and Zooki was there again.  
"You're really getting on my nerves!" She cried, going to strike the Rodian, but he was faster, grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back. The Twi'lek bit back her cry, determined not to give him the satisfaction, lashing out with her feet. Yet her movements were uncoordinated, and Zooki easily sidestepped her, forcing the smuggler onto her belly, his weight resting on her back.  
"Not so tough now, are you, Twi'lek?" He smirked, and the coolness of a blade ghosted over the bare skin of her neck. "Time I taught you a lesson."  
"Captain!" A cry turned both heads to see Corso in the doorway, shocked by the scene he'd found, and the pistol being pointed at him from Zooki, the blade still very close to Zavvi.  
"Any closer, and she dies." The Rodian sneered, and immediately Corso's face contorted to a primal hate.  
"I'd get off her right now if I were you." He snarled, brown eyes dark.  
"Or what?"

Taking advantage of his distraction, the smuggler smirked, tensing her body before she bucked, turning the Rodian off balance. A single shot rang out and the purple alien fell dead to the floor.  
Zavvi got up, dusting herself down and shaking her jacket.  
"Thank you for the distraction, Corso." She said, as if nothing had happened at all. He surveyed the scene. "Yes, the gang didn't take the fact we took Gambo in too kindly, and attacked me. Paid for their efforts, stupid buggers." The mercenary's face said it all.  
"Captain, you almost got yourself killed." His voice was flat, and she frowned, becoming serious.  
"We're having this discussion outside right now." She demanded, striding out with an equally unhappy Mantellian trailing.

* * *

As soon as they were outside and away from onlookers, the argument erupted.  
"Riggs, I told you to hand Gambo in and to stay with the officer whilst she got medical help!"  
"And that's what I did, Captain! I waited just like you said whilst the meds took her off, and you weren't back then, so I went back inside to see what was up." His eyes were defiant. "If I hadn't of come back when I did, you coulda been killed!"  
"I could have easily got out of the position he had me in. You just provided me with a distraction." Zavvi replied, matching his glare.  
"Captain, he had a knife to your neck! I doubt you could have kicked him off without getting yourself hurt or worse!"  
"You've never seen me do such a move until today; what have you to judge me by our partnership of what, a day?!" She stormed, prodding him squarely in the middle of his chestplate. "Frankly, I'm insulted that you doubt my combat prowess, farm boy. You've never heard me doubting yours, so what is it with me?" Her eyes narrowed, just as Corso interrupted with:  
"I wasn't doubting your fighting skills, Captain, I was jus' saying that was a dangerous position to be in, and I doubted that you'd 've been able to flip him if he weren't distracted!" However, the Twi'lek was on a tangent she wouldn't let go of that easily.  
"Are you insinuating that I couldn't flip him without distraction because I'm a woman, and so I'm weaker?"  
"I never said that!"  
"It radiates from you, farm boy; you think I need to be protected and coddled by a big strong man. Well guess what, buster, I've lived on my own as a smuggler for four years, and not once have needed anyone to fight my battles for me. So don't you even dare think you're stronger or a better fighter than me, because this foot will find its way to your jewels, and you will not like that. And I have no qualms about throwing you off my crew straight after and leaving you to the bounty hunters, do I make myself clear?" She snarled. Corso inwardly cringed at her threat, but impressively managed to keep a straight face.  
"I know, Captain, you've told me this before."  
"Yes, but you don't seem to be taking it in, so I'm going to keep telling you until you get it into your thick-skulled head!" The mercenary closed his eyes briefly, swallowing back a fresh wave of anger.  
"Captain, I don't want to not be there if you're in trouble and actually do need help. What if those gangsters took you down and I'm just standing out there twiddling my thumbs? Sometimes it don't hurt to have some back-up, that's all."  
"I've never needed back-up before." She replied scornfully. "And I don't need your help."

Corso threw his hands up in frustration.  
"What do you want me to be, Captain?! I might as well as just be piece of furniture the way you're goin' on!"  
"I want you to go back in that cantina, get us rooms for the night and some drinks, and actually STAY THERE whilst I go and have a word with Darmas." She snapped at him. "I'm starting to wonder why I ever brought you along for this ride!"

Riggs left her side without another word, face like thunder.

* * *

Corso stared glumly at the bottom of his beer glass. He'd done as the captain had asked, getting a room for them for the night, and had settled down at the bar to drink, facing the room Darmas was using in the Dealer's Den. He'd been fuming when he'd left her side, but after a while of sitting alone, Corso had calmed down and began to think things through, and now just felt morose.

He was concerned for her safety, he couldn't help it. And he knew she was a capable fighter; he'd seen her take out burly gangsters twice her size that looked like they could snap her in half. And even though it was usually him in the heat of things, the scene he'd found had clearly displayed her prowess; only through being taken by surprise had she been captured. He was only worried that she'd be hurt badly, or that she'd be killed. That thought sent a creeping chill down his body, and he decided to move his mind on.

But it stayed on the subject of Zavvi, and he looked back to Darmas's room with a sigh. She seemed uninterested with Darmas when they first met him, but a horrible thought coiled in his stomach that if Darmas managed to calm her anger, she might be willing to do more with him. He suddenly wanted to get up and see what was going on, but he forced himself to stay put. The last thing he wanted was to make her more angry at him, and lose a chance.

_Wait, a chance at what?_

Corso's question didn't get its answer, as he saw Zavvi walk from the room. He waited until their eyes met, and she began to move towards him. He gave her a quick once over, hoping she didn't notice him doing it. The mercenary noted her clothes were unruffled and were the same as when he'd left her, and felt the tension in his shoulders relax, though he was subdued.  
"Everything's in order, Captain." He told her as she sat next to him, passing a door key to her. "Didn't know what you wanted so I didn't order anythin' for you."  
"That's fine." Her anger had cleared too, and she signalled to the bartender. "Coruscanti ale for me and my friend here." Corso looked to see who'd caught up with her, when he realized she meant him.  
"Oh, thank you, Captain." He said as the glass was passed to him. It didn't look too bad...He took a sip, and then smiled. "It's good."  
"Should be, since this is the planet it's from."

A brief, awkward yet companionable silence fell over them before Zavvi spoke again.  
"Darmas told me that we'll have to head to the Black Sun's area. Seems like Skavak's a friend of theirs, and they might have holos of their conversations with him. Unfortunately, they tend to fragment them, so we'll have to go data hunting." She explained to the Mantellian, taking a sip of her drink.

Another silence, the activity in the cantina swirling around them, never breaking their little bubble. That is, until Corso cleared his throat.  
"Captain...I just wanna apologise. For earlier." He winced as he saw her tense. "I was...well, I was scared, Captain. I was scared he was gonna kill you, and I couldn't 've helped you. I never had a chance to help my parents, when it happened...I was away, on an errand at the time. I know you're tough, and you can look after yourself, it weren't anything to do with that." He opened his hands, dejectedly. "I didn't mean to get so angry. I'm sorry."

He looked back at the liquid in his glass, not wanting to meet her eyes in case she was angry. But she wasn't. Instead, she looked sympathetic, almost...guilty?  
"I hadn't really thought about it like that." She admitted. "I guess it makes more sense now. But I've got to apologise as well." She sighed heavily. "Look, Corso, I'm probably not in the best state right now. I'm worried about my ship and what that bastard Skavak is doing with her, and we're going through so much stuff..." She shook her head. "It's draining, without somewhere safe to curl up in at the end of every day. So, I'm sorry for saying what I said to you, Corso. Some of the stuff I think you deserved, but the rest was me flying off the handle and saying nasty things just to be nasty." Their eyes met this time. "Do you forgive me?"

Without hesitation, a warm smile spread across his lips, and he nodded.  
"Of course, Captain. It's becoming a long day for us, so I understand your tiredness. Hopefully we can get some sleep tonight and start early tomorrow morning and catch Skavak."  
Zavvi was surprised; Corso acted as if the tension between them had never existed, and it was all just a misunderstanding. She found herself sharing his smile, and felt a lot more relaxed about her situation, as well as more guilty for her angry tirade at him earlier. He seemed a genuinely nice fella, and so decided to make it up with him, just to soothe her own demons.  
Noticing his glass was empty, she asked:  
"You liked that, farm boy?" He nodded, and she snapped her fingers. "Another ale for the boy here." She passed the credits over, and the mercenary's eyes widened as another glass was set in front of him.  
"Aren't you drinkin' any more, Captain?" He asked suspiciously. "Surely it's unfair for a lady to be left out of proceedings?"  
"Do you always look a gift ronto in the mouth?" She giggled. "Just drink up, farm boy. Think of it as a 'thank you' from me for being a good partner in combat." And she wasn't just saying that, either. He was a capable fighter, being an excellent shot and his harpoon making him fairly unpredictable and a force to be feared.  
It took a little more chivvying before Corso accepted the drink and Zavvi ordered another, smiling at the taste. It didn't have much of a kick, but it gave a warm feeling and the Twi'lek couldn't be arsed with anything with a more 'pointed' effect.

After a few minutes, tongues had loosened, and Corso drew himself up, catching Zavvi's attention.  
"So," he began, "how about that war, Captain? You think the Republic will stop hiding behind the Treaty of Coruscant and admit they want the Empire wiped out? It just don't sit right, negotiating with people who want every man, woman and kid dead." She raised an eyebrow.  
"I think you're confusing the separatists and the Empire." The grin that tugged on the corner of her lips did not correspond to his.  
"Captain, I'm serious. I've seen what a world looks like when the Empire's done with it." His face darkened. "It ain't pretty, lemme tell you that." That piqued her interest.  
"You travelled? I mean no disrespect, but Skavak acted though you were fresh off the farm." He snorted derisively.  
"Skavak weren't as close to me as he thought." He looked back to her. "I joined the Peace Brigade when I was fourteen. It's a relief organisation; goes out to worlds abandoned by the Treaty of Coruscant, helping people displaced by the Empire." A soft sigh. "I was a kid, looking for adventure. After two months..." His glass swirled once on the counter. "Let's just say there are no kids in war zones."

A brief silence settled once more, sombre in nature. Corso wasn't looking at Zavvi, his gaze turned inward. She, however, was just watching him, turning this over in her head. So he had gone into the wider galaxy. At fourteen? They had more in common than she thought. The Twi'lek looked at the human's face, noting the scars carved into his tanned skin. They were probably shrapnel or knife wounds from those days, forever marking him like the rings of a tree.  
She had more respect for him now, knowing he'd seen firsthand the Empire's cruelty and viciousness, and that he'd seen tragedy up close. And yet, if you met him on the street, you wouldn't see anything but the marks on his body.

Zavvi smiled, clearing her throat softly to snap Corso out of his funk.  
"Well, me and the Empire aren't friends either, Corso. In fact, I'd lead the charge against them, if I have to." She said, taking a drink. She saw his eyes light up.  
"You've got guts, Captain." He announced. "I hope you don't mind if I tag along and take a few hits for you durin' that charge."  
And for once, Zavvi grinned back at him.

"I'd like that."


	6. Glass Facets

If you ignored the fact Captain Zavvi had helped out the Coruscant security forces back down in the Merchant Guild's sector, she didn't usually save law men. Most of the time she was trying to slip under their radar. However, Skavak had asked help from a Black Sun leader known as Urbax to squash a particularly tenacious one that just wouldn't get off his back, and Corso had wisely suggested they try to avert this, and get another lead on Skavak's location.

So they hurried to the spaceport, and just in time too, as a Sullustan lawmen was squaring up to the burly Cathar Urbax and his cronies, who looked like they were ready to go for the kill.

"That was fun, little mouse, but we're done playing. Time to die." Urbax growled malevolently, closing in on the lawman as the smuggler and mercenary picked up their pace.  
"I am a designation officer of the Sullustan Constable Brigade. Drop your weapons and surrender, or I'll be forced to discharge my weapon again." The officer replied, and Zavvi facepalmed, Corso wincing.  
"Well, this ain't gonna go well." He murmured.  
"I can't figure out if he's deaf or just stupid." Urbax growled with a sigh.

"How long are you guys going to take?" Zavvi asked, voice loud enough to attract attention. "Because if I knew this was going to be a comedy show, I would've brought popcorn." She smiled easily as the Cathar turned on her. "Besides, Sullustans have excellent hearing, can't you see the ears?"  
"I told you to watch the door!" Urbax snapped at someone. "Do I have to do everything myself?"  
"Seems like you do." The Captain smirked, confidence and arrogance radiating from her, Corso watching this with interest, though he tensed when Urbax took a step forward, with a sneer across his lips.  
"You don't belong here, little girlie." He mocked. "Better leave before you break a nail or scuff your knees. Wouldn't want a pretty thing like you damaged, would we?" The arrogance dropped like brick through air, and Zavvi's face was now stony, and utterly furious.  
"Ohh, you shouldn't 've said that." Corso piped up, trying not to grin, even as Urbax said to him:  
"Who are you? The sap who carries all her shopping?" A few laughs came from the others, but Corso did not waver.  
"Naw, I'm not that. But underestimating the Captain ain't something you should take lightly." He replied. "'Cos you just made a very, very bad mistake."  
"Upstanding citizens!" The lawman cried, catching their attention. "Under Article 11607 of the Emergency Service Laws, I hereby deputize you! These men are interfering in a criminal investigation!" Zavvi and Corso looked at each other, before Zavvi grinned with a shrug.  
"We're here to save your hide anyway, so sounds good to me!" She looked over to the Black Sun. "Since you won't listen to him, listen to me; surrender and keep your lives, or don't, and, well, things'll get messy." Urbax rolled his eyes.  
"You really are as dumb as you look, aren't you? Shame dumb broads aren't my type." He commented, and Corso facepalmed.  
_This guy is gonna really regret saying that._ Corso thought to himself.  
"Kill them all, men!" He cried.

In the blink of an eye, Zavvi's guns were out and already a gang member was down, unable to draw in time. The lawman and Zavvi both quickly found cover as Corso charged into the fray, barging into another man.  
"Captain! You've got Urbax! Keep him off our law guy! I'll hold back the rest!" He called out to her, smacking his current opponent with Sparky's rear end.  
Zavvi nodded, eager to give the Cathar a show of what she could do. She looked for her target, who was closing on the Sullustan.  
"Hey, hairball!" She shouted at him, getting him to turn. "Come at me and fight me like the man you aren't!"  
"That would be too easy, girlie!" He replied, and Zavvi puffed herself up, coming out of her cover and trying not to get too angry and lose her logic.  
"Oh really?" She nodded to Corso, who was now fighting with his fists in a rather chaotic melee, kicking out at someone trying to bite him. "As far as I'm concerned, that guy there is more manly than you. You, a boss of the Black Sun and hasn't the guts to fight me, a lowly smuggler?" She sneered, knowing she was hitting the right buttons. "What a loser. How did you climb your ranks? Petty bribes? Corso over there could do you over in a matter of seconds."

Urbax scowled furiously, storming over to her.  
"You'll pay for that, you whore!" His claws unsheathed, despite his weapon, and he went to slash her face. Zavvi had seen this coming, and with a grin she darted gracefully under his blow, discharging a shot into his side, then into his back.  
"You'll have to do better than that!" Her sing-song tone drove him mad, and he roared at her, firing shots she danced away from, Flashy and Sonic firing away, digging into the Cathar's body, whilst a few bolts grazed her jacket and trousers, leaving light burns but no injuries. Seeing Corso struggling with just one gang member, she casually raised Flashy and fired, the man slumping as the shot went through his head. She returned to her fight, eyes taunting Urbax to attack her.

The Mantellian watched, hypnotized, as Urbax roared again, firing off a flurry of shots, to which Zavvi calmly threw down some portable cover, sinking behind it as the shots hissed over her head.  
"Come on now, this is just too easy!" She called out to the Black Sun leader, who charged towards her. Corso tensed, aiming Sparky at the Cathar, just in case Zavvi required assistance, figuring better to help her, arguments be damned.  
But he'd fallen into the Captain's trap as she rolled away from the cover just in time as Urbax was almost on top of her, Flashy and Sonic firing at the Black Sun leader who tried to skid to halt as he noticed his prey had moved, with Corso deciding to pepper some shots into his armour just to keep him off balance for Zavvi. The grenade she'd surreptitiously then detonated, throwing Urbax aside.

Urbax growled in defeat, trying to stagger up as the Twi'lek rose to her feet, and gracefully, using one foot placed on his belly, pushed him back onto the floor, her grin triumphant. The last thing the Cathar saw just out of the corner of his eye before she fired into his head was Corso mouthing; 'I told you so'.

* * *

Miel Muwn, as the officer's name was, was understandably grateful for their help, and told them he was pursuing Skavak for stealing a relic, some ruby, if Zavvi recalled (she wasn't paying that much attention at that point), and they agreed to share any knowledge of Skavak's whereabouts with the officer, and vice versa. He was happy enough not to identify them, and they quickly left the scene, as Corso pointed out that there was little time to answer questions, and they best get back to Darmas anyway, to see if he'd dredged anything else up about their thief.

In the taxi on the way back, Zavvi leant over to him, smirking.  
"You know Corso, I'm surprised."  
"Why's that, Captain?"  
"You weren't getting your knickers in a twist about me fighting that big burly Cathar on my own. Care to explain about this sudden change of heart?" She asked. A grin played on his lips.  
"Well, big bullies like him need to be taught a lesson." Was all he said, and Zavvi could have sworn his brown eyes almost twinkled.  
"Um...Thanks. He was easy, though. Insult his masculinity a couple of times, and they become laughably predictable." She turned her head to him. "I saw you with those other guys. Using your fists in a gun fight. Are you insane?"  
Corso shrugged.  
"Nothing I like than a good brawl, Captain. 'Specially since I was keeping them off your back."  
"Maybe, but don't let it get yourself killed." She warned him. "Fighting's a rush alright, but I like to stay outta avoidable fights. 'Cos I kinda like living." He nodded.  
"I can understand that, Captain."

* * *

The two had not expected the bounty hunters that had been waiting for them, just outside Darmas's room. Zavvi had tried desperately to wrangle her way out of trouble, and they'd almost got free...until Zavvi slipped, becoming a little arrogant, and they pounced. The battle had been short and violent, as one of them had a flamethrower, and neither the human or Twi'lek wanted to be on the business end of it.

After Corso had finished patching his burns, he turned and was rather interested to find the Captain kneeling down beside two of the bodies. They were a young couple from what they'd heard, and Zavvi had moved the bodies around so they were side by side, hand in hand, and she gently closed their eyes with trembling fingers.

Zavvi glanced over to see the dumbfounded Corso looking at her, and sighed, looking weary and sad.  
"I wish I didn't have to kill them." She whispered.  
"Why's that, Captain?" He asked, just as gently.  
"Because..." A pause. "They were so much in love. Did you see him? He put himself in front of her, trying to make sure she didn't get too badly hurt." He noticed her fists clench, and a waver in her voice she was trying hard to hold back. "I couldn't...I couldn't go through that. I don't think I could put anyone I love through that. With death always hanging over my head, I couldn't let someone love me. What if I died the next day? If I died all their love and feelings would be for naught. I couldn't put someone I loved through it all. That's why I try so hard not to kill any couples; why should I end their love? I have no right to. It's not fair on them."

There was a long silence then, the sounds of the cantina like an annoying buzz in the background. Zavvi wasn't crying, though Corso had a feeling if he weren't there she would. They stayed there for what seemed like a long, long time, minutes slowing to hours. He noticed her shoulders weren't held broad.

Eventually, Zavvi got to her feet, pulling her gaze from the scene. He watched as she prepared herself. Closing her eyes, she rolled her shoulders back, lifted her chin high, opening her palms out, and breathing in deeply. She held this pose (which to Corso's mind looked almost angelic) for a few seconds before she breathed out heavily, relaxing. When she opened her eyes, she was the Captain again, and Corso fell in behind her.

Darmas was sitting on his couch, his ladies absent. He gestured to the spare couch in front of him with a honeyed:  
"Trouble with bounty hunters, Captain?"  
Zavvi almost froze, but she forced herself to sit down, not showing Darmas she was a little rattled. Then she remembered they'd been right outside, so he'd have been bound to hear the commotion going on. Still, it did unsettle her, yet the smuggler made sure not to let it show, affecting an easy grin, leaning back.  
"Well, I can't help it if I'm popular with all the wrong people." Though there was space for Corso, he hovered just behind her, scouting the room casually, looking as if he was merely curious about his surroundings.  
"Don't sell yourself short, my dear." Darmas purred. "All the right people find you charming too." The mercenary rolled his eyes, suppressing his snort of derision. "I hear the Black Sun's on a recruitment drive, and you had an altercation at the spaceport," he continued, "I take it my lead was worthwhile?"  
Zavvi hesitated briefly, before deciding to keep the fact she'd gained Miel as a source of information under her sleeve. _Corso might trust this guy, but I don't._ She thought to herself.  
"I'll have Skavak writhing on the floor before this is done." She mused, her grin feral, as was Corso's. Darmas frowned.  
"That's quite the vicious streak. It does seem like he brings out the worst in people." Then his frown was gone. "Now, whilst we wait for Skavak to make his next move, perhaps we could play a little sabacc?"  
Corso groaned, burying his face in his hand.  
"I saw that one coming." He muttered.  
"Corso, don't be such a spoilsport." Darmas chastened him. "What do you say, Captain? First game's on me."  
Zavvi considered this, feeling the Mantellian's eyes on her.  
"One game." She concluded. "I haven't much credits to be wasting." Darmas nodded.  
"Corso, go fetch us some drinks." He tossed some credstiks to the boy, who caught them effortlessly, and wandered back out, though lingered by the door as Darmas led the Captain to the sabacc table.

Everyone was surprised when the Captain managed to win. Even she looked down at the cards with confusion, wondering why they'd decided to play against their master this time. Thankfully, Darmas was a gracious loser, even as Zavvi asserted that it was honestly beginner's luck, and she had no idea what she was doing.

She said as much to Corso, as they were making their way back to the couches; Darmas had a game to play with a Neimoidian, as the info still hadn't come through.  
"I told you, Corso, aside from knowing how to play the game, I don't know what I was doing! I genuinely don't know how I beat him!" She insisted, sitting back down on the couch, looking up to the tall mercenary in front of her.  
"Whatever you say, Captain. I still think you're good sabacc player." He grinned. "Did you see his face? You busted his ego a bit."  
"Well my ego would be busted if I got beat by a beginner with lots of luck." She replied, before yawning widely. "Hmm, Corso, could you do me a favour?"  
"Anything you want, Captain." His gentlemanly accent was so sweet and smooth Zavvi felt her heart flutter and her eyes lid.  
"Could you keep watch whilst I have a little nap? Just those fights have caught up to me, and I need a little rest." He was nodding before her sentence was finished.  
"Of course, Captain. I'll wake you if Darmas comes back with news, that alright?"  
"That's perfectly fine." She nodded, lifting her legs up and watching Corso settle down where he could see the doorway, taking Sparky off his back and laying him in his lap.

The Twi'lek pulled the cushion over to use it as a pillow, and watched in fascination as Corso gently pulled off his heavy gauntlets, revealing tanned, calloused hands, and he began to disassemble his rifle with skilful fingers that almost danced along the weapon. Not a movement was wasted as the firearm came to bits, a critical eye looking over every part that the smuggler found utterly mesmerising to watch. The very sound of the clicks and clacks of mechanisms being moved and unhooked was strangely soothing, and that was before she heard him start to hum something, an old song she did not know. His deep voice caused the hum to rumble, reminding Zavvi strangely of the noise the sublight engines made on the _Skylark_. She was depressed in this knowledge when she realized her eyelids were drooping, and eventually she let them close and exhaustion overtake her, but not before she heard the Mantellian whisper to her;  
"Sweet dreams, Captain."


	7. Harpoon to the Heart

_The Captain sure moves around a lot. _Corso thought to himself as he heard her shift her weight again on the couch, her clothes hissing against the fabric. _I guess that couch ain't too comfy, though._  
He looked out towards the doorway again, resuming his vigil. The only thing he saw was some people quietly moving the bounty hunters' bodies away as quietly and stealthily as they could, and aside from that, no-one ever entered the hallway separating Darmas's room from the main cantina, even few people even passed by the doorway. But still, Zavvi had given him a job, and he'd do it, despite the fact he could feel his mind (and rump) numb with boredom. He could check Sparky again...But he'd been in perfect condition, and he wasn't risking taking Zavvi's weapons off her.

He felt her roll over, her head brushing the part of his dreadlocks that were all bunched up in a knot. He felt a blush heat his face, and Corso turned his head slightly, seeing her on the edge of the couch from the corner of his eye.  
He thought little of it until he felt her begin to tilt. Knowing what was coming, Corso spun around, just managing to plant one hand on her belly and the other on her thighs to catch her before she fell, jarring the Twi'lek awake.

Corso was blushing bright red as he gently pushed her back onto the couch, the Captain wriggling away from the edge.  
"S-Sorry, Captain...It was jus' you were gonna fall an'-" He stuttered, his cheeks darkening further when she giggled.  
"You think I'm going to be mad at you for trying to stop me faceplanting into the floor?" She shook her head. "Of course not. Thank you for the save, those were some quick reactions."  
"Oh, thank you, Captain." He smiled shyly.

She rolled onto her belly, shuffling over to Corso with a smile on her face.  
"You know, Darmas is a very charming man..." She mused, and tried not to let her lip quirk upwards when she saw his frown of discontent.  
"I may have been bit hasty when I said we could trust Darmas..." The mercenary grumbled, shooting a glare in the direction of the sabacc table. She reached forward, turning his head back with her hand, noticing the blush trying hide under his tan. Zavvi smiled.  
"Aww, no-one's gonna replace you, farm boy..." She purred.

Corso blinked, his train of thought derailed.  
"Oh. That's good- I mean, uh, what were we talking about?" He stumbled, not sure where he was going with this conversation or even if it made any sense. He was silenced by her finger to his lips, a spark bursting not just in his already hot face, but also down below.  
"Shh, farm boy, you talk too much..." She whispered, light green eyes staring into his deep brown ones.

For a moment, they were captivated by each other; Corso by the smuggler in front of him, close enough he could smell faint traces of perfume and of her own scent lurking under that, one lekku laying down her back and the one trailing down front of him, somehow more sensual than hair. He dared not look towards where her shirt was.  
Zavvi, on the other hand, was equally entranced by the Mantellian in front of her, taking the time to really take in his features. She wondered for the umpteenth time where those scars had come from. Her eyes dropped, taking in his form too: his shoulders broad; suggestive of his strength, those skilful hands now shielded by thick gloves, long legs bent into a kneeling position. The Twi'lek's mind briefly flickered back to when she'd been treating his lightsaber burn, and she'd seen the muscles he'd possessed, feeling her body warm with the thought. He was handsome, there was no denying it.

They swayed slightly closer to each other, neither really taking in what they were doing, drowning in each others' gaze. Closer, their pupils swelling to compensate, soft wisps of breath ghosting across skin. Closer, and Corso's heart thumped. His hand clasped the edge of the couch, fingers brushing against hers. _Just a little more...just-_

"Ah, that was time well spent. I do love the smell of fresh credits." Darmas's voice and footsteps broke the spell, and they scrambled apart, Zavvi somehow managing to get to a sitting position, whilst Corso tried to pretend he hadn't been doing anything at all; rather difficult with the blush that stretched all the way to his ears. Darmas eyed them as he sat back down on the chair, and the smirk he gave Corso made the mercenary scramble to his feet, and put the arm of the couch in front of him. He noticed Zavvi's clothes were ruffled due to her movements during sleep and to get back upright, and swallowed hard.

"Ah, maybe, but I'd prefer my ship back. Bit more reliable than a card game." Zavvi spoke, stretching as she got to her feet, feeling her bones popping and clicking as her muscles pulled taut.  
"Whatever floats your boat, my dear." Darmas chuckled. "You'll be pleased to know I received an alert from my network mere minutes ago..." Smuggler and mercenary both were now hanging onto his words. "It's what we've been waiting for, Captain, as our efforts have paid off; my informants just witnessed Skavak fighting someone and feeling into Justicar's territory. We have him!" Zavvi's eyes narrowed.  
"Seems too easy for that. Tell me where I'm going, Darmas."  
"You're more perceptive than you let on, Captain. You're headed into one of the most dangerous parts of Coruscant. The Justicars don't tolerate outsiders in their sector. Skavak must be truly desperate to risk his life going there."  
"Huh, I hope we get to him first before the Justicars, then. I'm not losing my chance to get even with him." Zavvi said, Corso nodding with her.  
"Then you'd better hurry." Darmas advised. "Justicars aren't known for their mercy."  
"So's the Black Sun, but we took that Urbax guy and his cronies down easy." Corso whispered in Zavvi's ear, making her smirk. Darmas frowned at them, before continuing.  
"My informants are a brother and sister named Jiik and Juul. They know where to find Skavak, and I'll tell them you're coming. Play your hand carefully in the Justicar sector, Captain. My instincts tell me Skavak hasn't shown all his cards yet."

Zavvi nodded, taking it all in, before saying to him:  
"Cheers for the info, Darmas. Dunno where we'd be without you." She offered her hand to shake, which he did, though he pressed a kiss to it, Corso's jaw clenching.  
"It's been a pleasure, Captain. I hope this isn't the last time we'll see each other. Though I can't help feeling there's more to our relationship than revenge on Skavak."  
"Perhaps." She replied, shrugging his comment off almost carelessly. "We'll see." Darmas didn't look too offended, and Corso looked reassured.  
"Good luck to you, Captain. I do hope you'll make Skavak pay all his debts." He smiled, watching them leave.

Corso leaned over again to whisper to Zavvi;  
"I don't think there'll be much of Skavak to pay his debts afta we're done, don't ya think, Captain?" She chuckled, shoving him.  
"Maybe, maybe. I'm certainly stealing his wallet, though." She grinned.  
"And what will you use his credits on, Captain?" Corso asked, his smile wide and warm.  
"Oh, I don't know..." She moved closer to the mercenary, bumping her body against his. "Maybe I'll buy you a couple of drinks with them?" Her tone was a purr, triggering his blush again.  
"Well, er, whatever you say, Captain." He replied, causing her to laugh, reaching up to squeeze his cheek. "Hey!"  
"Aw, you're adorable, farm boy." She giggled, dancing away as he made to playfully grab her. "Come on, when have a starship and Torchy thief to beat up!"

* * *

Her good mood was dampened when Juul launched into a tirade against her, accusing her of being the reason that her brother had been taken into custody, and that she was ignorant because she was a 'cloud head'. They had been watching Skavak, the Justicars had shown up, and accidentally snagged Jiik before he could tell his sister where the thief had gone. So now Juul was taking all her frustration and worry out on both Zavvi and Corso. The Twi'lek growled out that she would help her through clenched teeth, but a part of her just wanted to smack her over the head and tell her to stop complaining, stop blaming her and buck her goddamn ideas up.

She got more and more prickly as they travelled further into the sector, finding out that basically the Justicars were just some well armed thugs that had chased out the Black Suns, before they decided to input martial law in the entire sector, generally making the residents miserable. This conjured a sliver of sympathy for Juul, but it was the young girl whose brother who'd been taken off for falling foul of a curfew law that really pulled her heartstrings. She was more receptive to the Twi'lek smuggler more than Corso, who in his armour looked similar to the heavily armoured Justicars, but both promised they'd get her brother back, no matter what. Conveniently, he was housed in the same facility Jiik was stuck in.

Corso discovered as they scrapped around in the prison a rather ingenious way to get rid of the cameras. Using his harpoon (named Whiplash), he could latch onto the hinge attaching the main unit to the wall, and break it clean off. Well, that is, if weight was applied to it. The first time the Captain saw Corso bouncing on the end of his harpoon line, she stared at him in astonishment. Before bursting out laughing as the camera suddenly gave way and he fell onto his butt with much fanfare. With more refinement of his technique, he only had to leap up, fire his harpoon, then fall down again, ripping the thing out of its socket effortlessly.

"That line is stronger than it looks." Zavvi commented as the last camera fell to the floor. "What is it made out of?" Corso shrugged.  
"Oh, well, I dunno really. Some experimental fibres, I think. We took 'em off some dodgy smuggler comin' through the Fort. Some issue with his payments to Viidu or somethin', but he let the cargo be raided, as we couldn't sell it on. I managed to use it for Whiplash's cable, as you can see." He explained. She nodded.  
"Must be incredible stuff if it takes your weight without complaint."  
"Oh yeah, Captain. I've had to upgrade Whiplash's harpoon head, as her points kept snappin' off!" He replied. "But now she could hold my own weight easy, though I think she could take some more if she needed to."  
"Hmm...Interesting..." The smuggler mused. "What's the current weak point?"  
"Here." Corso pointed to where the harpoon mechanism was mounted to Sparky. "I can easily take Whiplash off Sparky and attach her to other guns, but I guess that it could break off under stress."  
"Hmm." She nodded again, filing the information away for further reference. "Come on, let's free our contact."

* * *

"Hey Corso, is that who I think it is?" He leaned over, following the line from her finger.  
"That's that Sullustan we rescued from the Black Sun." He replied, straightening up and trotting over to the cell, his Captain tailing him. "Wonder why they woulda locked him up, though."  
"Well, Darmas did say they didn't like outsiders..." Zavvi murmured, coming over to the lawman. "Miel, I trust you met the Justicars?"  
"Upstanding citizens! What luck to see you down here!" The pair did give each other a look, trying not to smirk. "They are lawbreakers pretending to be peace officers. That is a severe offence under Statute 52974 of the Sullustan Criminal Code. The fugitive Skavak ambushed me down here and fled. The Justicars interrupted my pursuit and demanded I surrender." He explained.  
"Miel, why didn't you call us? We could have helped!" Zavvi replied, keeping the annoyance out of her voice. For no reason at all, the image of Skavak being dragged along the floor by Corso's harpoon popped into her head, and it took effort to stop a stupid grin stretch over her face. The Sullustan looked demure.  
"I would have, but my holotransmitter was destroyed during Skavak's ambush. I did not want to harm people who I believed were local authorities, so I surrendered and allowed them to bring me here."

Her annoyance faded. If he couldn't have called, he couldn't have called. She looked Miel over, thoughts now going to freeing the officer.  
"Did they hurt you at all? You look fairly intact."  
"I was lucky; they forgot about me when they brought in a human male for interrogation." He replied.  
"That's the guy we're after, Captain." Corso piped up. "You know where they put him?"  
"Not far; further down the corridor from here." Miel nodded, before adding: "Skavak is getting away as we speak, upstanding citizens. I need you to release me immediately." Corso looked to Zavvi.  
"Well, we might as well spring this little fella while we're here. Can't see any harm in it, and he has helped us." Zavvi gave Corso a very dry look.  
"Yes, I was going to totally leave him in here to rot." She rolled her eyes, tutting loudly at the Mantellian. "No, of course not. What do you take me for, a cold-hearted pirate?" A grin played on Corso's lips as she strode over to the console, slicing it effortlessly to let Muwn out.  
"This is the second time you have come to my aid. I owe you a significant debt. I must re-arm and renew my pursuit of Skavak. Thank you again for your help, upstanding citizens."  
"Aw, it's nothin'." Zavvi shrugged. "Skavak needs his comeuppance handed to it. 'S been a long time coming."  
"When I return to Sullust, I will file a Form 453391 and request an official commendation for your actions today." Miel nodded, walking past them and out of the prison.

They continued on down the corridor to reach a rather battered and bruised young man, bent double with pain.  
"Blazes...They got him good..." Riggs muttered, eyes wide. "No wonder Miel counted himself lucky..." They hurried over to Jiik, who looked up at them with pain swimming in his eyes.  
"I...I feel like my insides are coming out..." He groaned, only just able to stay standing. Corso wandered back up the corridor to check no-one was coming.  
"Hang on, I'll just get your sis on the line." Zavvi spoke, dialling Juul's number and turning the holo towards Jiik. Very promptly, the flickering blue image of the woman popped up, and was taken aback by his condition.  
"Jiik? It's me, Juul. Are you alright? What did those Justicars do to you?" Jiik smiled through his agony.  
"Hey, sis. Knew you wouldn't forget about me. Who're the cloudheads?" Zavvi rolled her eyes. _I know I grew up in the upper levels, but come on now..._ She thought to herself.  
"The captain and her sidekick Darmas asked us to help. What happened to you when you followed Skavak? How come the Justicars snagged you?" Juul continued, Zavvi content to let the siblings natter, feeling Corso's presence behind her once more.  
"Saw something I wasn't supposed to." Jiik replied, hissing through his nose at the pain. "You won't believe this, but I caught the Justicars trading supplies with the Empire." Zavvi blinked widely.

"How could that be? It, it doesn't seem possible." She shook her head.  
"Captain, it would explain how they're so well equipped." Corso said quietly. "If you compare the equipment the Black Suns had to the kit the Justicars have..." He shook his head. "They're miles apart." He could see she didn't want to believe that the Imperials were still lurking around on her planet.  
"Some turfers think that a few Imperials stayed behind after the war ended. I always thought it was stories to scare the kids." Juul added. "But if Jiik saw it..."  
"That would also explain why he came here, Captain!" Riggs suddenly realized. "His Imp buddies!" Jiik nodded.  
"Yeah, Skavak and the Imperials were laughing about something. Not sure what. The Imperials took Skavak into the Works." Zavvi grimaced, and Juul looked alarmed.  
"Oh no, not the Works...Are you serious...?" The smuggler groaned. The mercenary was confused.  
"The Works, Captain? What's so bad about them?"  
"It's a big mess of power stations and old factories below us. I didn't think anything could survive down there aside from droids." Juul explained.  
"Yeah, basically everything Coruscant needs to function is there. Sewage systems, exploding conduits, you name it, it's down there and ready to kill you." Zavvi agreed.  
"If Skavak dropped to the Works, you may as well go home. You won't last five minutes." Juul declared dismissively.

To that, Corso grinned, puffing his chest out.  
"We're pretty good." His grin widened challengingly. "Bet we last ten minutes." He sounded as if he was wagering on a sabacc game, and his confidence was a shot in the arm for the captain. Juul merely snorted at him.  
"The Works is nothing but toxic ruins and berserk droids, you moron. People who go down there don't come back."  
"Well, looks like we'll be the first then." Zavvi grinned. "Besides, if Skavak and the Imps can survive down there, so can I."  
"You're a lot braver than I thought." Juul scowled. "Or dumber."  
"I'd like to go home now." Jiik moaned. "This is the worst party I've ever been to."

* * *

"I didn't think it was possible for this job to get more complicated." Corso pulled a face as they exited the elevator, out into the belly of Coruscant. First was the stench of rust, rotting...stuff, next was the noise of conduits, hissing steam, some of the huge pipes gurgling like a starving rancor. Not to mention the dim light that cast everything into a sickening amber colour. The taste of metal was also not nice, and the captain decided to keep their time down in the Works to a minimum.  
"That guy is both stupid and a genius." Zavvi groaned. "No-one would look for that arsehole down here; there's nothing here but grime, droids and death." She looked to her partner. "Still, stops this mission from getting boring any time soon. And at least I can say 'Hey, we went down into the Works on Coruscant. And guess what! We came back!'" Corso shook his head.  
"That's one way of looking at it, Captain. Shall we?"

Navigating in the Works was a lot harder than they'd thought it would have been. The corridors often curved back around on each other, with walkways and huge pipes and machines and Force knows what else all slammed together in such a way the map Zavvi had sliced off a console was rather agonizing to follow. She had been tempted to get the schematics instead, but then she realized it would have become even worse.  
That was before you added the crazed droids and the large packs of mutated Cthon to the mix. Didn't matter that Corso was heavily armoured, or that Zavvi had two guns; they were organic, they were fleshy, and they were meat.  
After the fifth pack of Cthon, the Twi'lek lost her patience.  
"When I find Skavak, I'm going to feed him to one of these damn monsters, and I'm gonna make sure it has tiny bites at a time. A hand here, and foot there. That'll teach the bastard for making us go down here and making us fight these fucking pieces of shit!" She growled, pacing in frustration.  
Corso tapped on her shoulder, and she whirled around, ready to bite his face off. "What?!" He quailed only slightly, before pointing to the giant pipes above them.  
"I was just thinking, Captain, that we could use these. I noticed a lot of them go through rooms and places we need to go through on the map. I bet if we get on top of 'em, so long as we don't fall, we could get 't where we need to go with no trouble."

A pause. Then Zavvi slapped his arm.  
"Stop being so smart, farm boy, you're making me look bad." She shook her head, before returning her gaze to the walkways of circular metal, looking along their length. "Hmm. Doesn't seem to be an easy way up there though. Unless..." She walked under one, and noticed the bracket holding it to the wall. "There. Okay Corso, can you get your harpoon to lock there?"  
"I'll try, Captain." After some careful aiming, the harpoon whistled from its mounting before a loud 'clunk' was heard. The mercenary tugged experimentally on the line. "Nice and trapped, Captain."  
"Alright then, up you go!" Zavvi grinned, pushing him, knocking the catch on the rifle. In what was a needlessly hilarious scene, Corso shot up towards the bracket, only just managing to grab onto it. She watched his legs flail a bit before he clambered onto the bracket, unlocking his harpoon's head from the struts. He wasn't pleased.  
"Captain! Something seriously wrong coulda happened there!" He shouted down to her.  
"I knew what I was doing!" She shouted back. "Now harpoon me!"  
"What?! Are you sure, Captain? It might hurt you!"  
"If I was afraid of getting hurt, I wouldn't be in this job! Make sure to brace yourself first, though. I'm not having you fall on top of me!" She shouted back up to him.

She noticed his figure shift a bit, and his rifle raise. She felt a sliver of both anticipation and fear, staring down the business end of Sparky, before she saw the gun twitch. Whiplash thudded into her, slipping through the straps on her jacket before its points popped out, trapping it securely.  
"Reel me up!" She called to him. She was suddenly yanked into the air rather forcefully. She could now believe this thing could haul large droids and heavily armoured gangsters around, as it picked her up as if she was nothing more than a kitten.  
She crashed into Corso, and he stumbled back, thankfully falling backwards onto the large pipe, but now they were a tangle of limbs, harpoon and rifle.  
"Uh, um, sorry Captain..." The Mantellian murmured, his face lighting up with a blush as he went to untangle Whiplash...Before freezing when he noticed it had entangled with the straps around her breasts. He swallowed hard, biting part of his mouth to stop the thoughts that were now bubbling up to the surface of his mind, and carefully threaded the head out, taking great pains never to touch her chest, only her shoulders.

With themselves freed, they quickly scrabbled away from each other, Corso mutely checking his blaster, Zavvi brushing herself down, and looking at the map.  
"Looks like we'll have to go that way." She pointed down the pipe, where it dipped down, following the curve of the wall, going deeper into the bowels of the Works. _Skavak must have a death wish,_ she thought.  
"Lead on." Corso replied, as they clambered onto the surprisingly wide pipe.  
"We'll need to stay in single file, Riggs. Keep to the middle and don't trust the curve; it's likely it'll tip you right off if given half a chance." Zavvi warned him.  
"Sure thing, Captain." He replied, falling in behind her.

* * *

From then on in, travel around the Works was ten times easier. They followed various pipelines and other things hanging from the wall and ceiling to get where they needed to go, blissfully safe from all the droids and ravenous Cthon creeping about down below. They kept noise to a minimum, not really talking to one another unless they needed to use Corso's harpoon to cross large gaps. It followed the path they'd started out on; Corso would grapple to the far end, before pulling Zavvi to him. This was fair means of transport, until they reached a huge chasm.

They'd entered a large, more open space in the Works, with several passageways, some leading to other areas and corridors, whilst some were just empty rooms or chambers. One of those rooms was where Skavak and his Imperial friends were hiding. Unfortunately for the smuggler and mercenary, the pipe that sat next to the entrance only travelled from the floor up to the wall and then along a little while. There was a very big gap between them and it, and it was a fair way down too should they attempt to descend.  
"Captain...I can't shoot that far." Riggs murmured to her from behind. "Whiplash'll come to the end of her line before she reaches anywhere close to the other side."  
"Hmmm..." Zavvi looked around. There had to be something...there. Above their heads, a bracket held thick wires that ran like serpents along the roof, transferring power from the buzzing conduits to the upper sectors. It wasn't ideal, but it was made of heavy metal, and looked new and strong. But...she turned to him.

"Corso, could you get to that bracket there?" She pointed.  
"Yeah, but are you sure that's wise, Captain? I mean, look at all them cables. I dunno if the line conducts, and I don't really wanna find out. But if you jus' meant that bracket, sure, I could get there. But if you're thinkin-" Zavvi interrupted him.  
"How much spare cable do you have for your harpoon?" He blinked, confused.  
"I have a good load of it. Here." He reached into his pack, pulling out a coiled cable, held in place. "I can't tie cables together though, if that's what you're thinkin', Captain." A small smile ghosted across his face.  
"No, I wasn't thinking of that." She looked back to the gap, and paused. "Corso."  
"Hmm?"  
"Do you trust me?" He blinked.  
"Captain, what-"  
"Do you trust me?" She asked him again, steel in her tone. He looked her up and down, wondering what had brought this on, before he nodded.  
"I trust you, Captain. I'll follow you wherever we need to go." She sighed.  
"Even if I do something that may get us killed?"  
"Our entire lives hinge around death, Captain. Ain't nothing new. 'Sides," he rested a gauntlet on her shoulder, "we ain't gonna die. We got your ship to get back, remember?"  
His words made her smile. _Where'd I get such a loyal and fearless crew mate from?_ she thought to herself, before taking a deep breath. He wasn't going to like this plan.  
"I was thinking you fire Whiplash at that bracket. And that we swing across to the other side." She said, and watched for his reaction.

There was a pause.  
"You sure that'll work?" Corso asked incredulously. She didn't blame him for not believing her.  
"No, I don't know. But I can't think of anything else." The smuggler shrugged uselessly. "Have you anything?" He looked thoughtful for a moment, before shaking his head.  
"No, Captain." He looked up to the bracket. "Gotta say, this is one of the craziest things I've ever done."  
"I can agree with you there." Zavvi nodded, attached the spare cable to her, and then to Corso.  
"Captain, what are you doing?" He asked nervously, blushing from their proximity.  
"Well, you're gonna have your hands full holding your rifle, and I don't want to lose my grip and fall off you, do I? I would kinda like to reduce the amount of ways I could die." The Captain explained, tying powerful military knots, much to Corso's surprise, doubled when he realized he'd been watching her do it.  
"How'd you learn to tie them knots, Captain? They're-"  
"My father taught me. Now come on, let's not put this off." Zavvi replied, tugging as the bonds to make sure they were secure. Corso nodded, swallowing hard and trying to ignore her body was so close, raising his rifle to aim at the bracket. To his chagrin, Zavvi bent over backwards so he had room to aim, which was rather distracting for the young man. He tried to aim at a gap between two struts, where Whiplash could get leverage and stay there, but noticed his grip was shaking very slightly due to her proximity.

Sensing his trouble, the smuggler reached up, her hand providing a prop to make his aim easier. Sparky bucked slightly as Whiplash hissed from its mounting, its cable whistling as it rapidly uncoiled. The harpoon sailed through the struts, and Corso's gentle tug made the points snap open, settling Whiplash neatly into its proper place, just out of the way of the electrical cables.

The Mercenary pulled on the line hard a couple of times, checking it was stuck fast and not likely to move. He took a deep breath.  
"You ready, Captain?" Zavvi swallowed, shifting her position to give them a fair, unimpeded run-up. They'd need every ounce of her smuggler's luck to come out of this alive.  
"On my count." A stiff nod.

"One."  
They braced their feet into the pipe.  
"Two."  
Two pairs of eyes stared towards their hopeful destination, ducking at the same time, adrenaline flooding their systems.  
"Three!"

They began a headlong charge towards where their pipe dipped down into the abyss. The clatter of their footsteps was masked by a roar of conduits and their hearts. Yards, feet, inches spun away, the edge zooming up before them. Zavvi dug her hands and fingers into the gaps between his chestplate, Corso wrapping his arms tightly around Sparky, bracing himself.

Then they jumped.


	8. Abyss

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The undignified screaming couldn't be helped as they plummeted, regardless of the fact that they were probably making themselves targets, desperately praying their only lifeline would hold. The floor zoomed closer and closer as their vision tunnelled, before suddenly they felt a jerk as the line pulled taut, their swing began. Hope blossomed as they began to swing across, their destination getting closer and closer and closer...They were going to make! They were going to-

With a loud 'punk!' noise, the cable jerked again, and to their horror, slackened under their grip. Zavvi looked up and saw the line had been ripped from the harpoon head, which had held admirably, but that was no use when they were hanging onto the cord.  
So they began to fall.

In the blur of adrenaline, neither knew who was yelling, or anything else. The Twi'lek watched the ground rushing up to meet them, and just about managed to think: _This is not the way I wanted to go..._ She turned, holding Corso tightly and buried her head in his body, not willing to see herself meet her own fate. She prayed her end would be swift and fairly painless.  
This, however, jarred the mercenary out of his fear filled panic, noticing the smuggler clinging to him desperately, as if she needed him. It made him determined not to die, the world seemingly spinning away into slow motion.  
He tucked Sparky into him, and turned in the air, putting his entire body in front of Zavvi's. He reached around to the metal pack on his back, smacking a lever and some buttons, and gave a little prayer to the Force. _Please don't fail, please don't fail, please don't fail..._

There was a roar, and Zavvi opened her eyes wide in surprise as she felt a punch from below, their descent slowing and their bodies turning slightly. She looked around, before noticing that the pack of Corso's back had now become a jetpack, hissing and roaring in a desperate bid to fight gravity. They were still falling, as its thrust couldn't take two people, but now there was a chance they'd get out of this alive. Hope kindled once more.  
However, a couple of metres before the ground, the engine spluttered, coughed, and then died, and they were back to falling unaided. This wasn't too much of a problem though, as the jetpack had slowed their descent considerably, and the couple of metres they had left would only injure them, not leave them as red marks on the floor.

Still, Corso kept his body between the ground and Zavvi, hitting the metal first and letting the shockwave jar up his back, shaking him to his core. The jetpack buckled under the hit, but with no fuel there was thankfully no explosion, and they lay together a moment, a tangle of limbs and spare cable, to let each other calm down after what just happened, adrenaline screaming in their veins.

Zavvi's heart was doing a thousand beats to a gallon, threatening to burst out of her ribcage. She felt Corso shuddering under her as he too tried to calm his heavy breathing, both blind to the rather intimate position they'd fallen into. Despite the cabling that held her to him, the Twi'lek did want to stay laying on top of the human anyway. It was strangely comforting, and he was rather warm. She realized he'd deliberately put his body in harm's way for her, but this time she was grateful, if not a little guilty. What if his jetpack hadn't activated when it did? What if he'd taken all the force for her, and Void forbid, what if he'd died because of it? Or worse, survived, but broke his spine and became paralysed?  
For the first time, she felt a cold stab of relief that he was alive, relatively unhurt. How did she get so concerned about his welfare all of a sudden? He was a crew mate, but he could look after himself, could he not? So why did she feel so fearful that he could have died? She breathed heavily, moving to press her ear to the pulse in his neck, feeling it throb comfortingly under her.  
Corso wrapped his arms around her, feeling her shake, and they stayed like this for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes.

Eventually, the smuggler began to undo the bonds that held her to him. She decided to break the oppressive silence that crowded them.  
"I'm sorry about Whiplash, Corso. Can you make her a new harpoon head?" She asked. Corso peered at the mechanism bolted to the rifle, which was looking worse for wear, having been strained to its limits.  
"Yeah, I'm sure I can. It'll take time, though." He sighed. "I left all her spare heads back on Ord." Zavvi nodded.  
"When we get my ship back, we'll head back there and pick up the rest of your stuff."  
Another silence fell, Riggs watching her nimble fingers undoing the knots that had held impressively during their fall, mesmerised by her movements.  
"You never told me you had a jetpack, Corso." She said. He blinked out of his trance, looking guiltily up at her.  
"I got it off some of those guys from the Migrant Merchant's Guild. She works pretty well, but she doesn't have enough fuel for another other than short jumps or to save our skins like that." He shook his head. "She'll need refuelling, and repairs now I've crushed her a little." He expected her to be angry, but was surprised when she said;  
"I'm impressed, Corso. It looks like a pack any old Republic soldier would wear, but you've managed to build the jetpack into it." She looked at him. "When did you build it?"  
"Bits at a time, Captain. Whenever we stopped off at a medical droid, I started repairing the thing whilst you were talking to it. It didn't take much; it's a pretty simple model. So long as you keep all the engine components separate from where you put your stuff, it's easy." He shrugged; feeling a loss as the Captain finally untied herself and got off him.  
"Fair enough." She extended a hand to him, which he gratefully clasped, using her strength to help him stand. She noticed him wince. "You alright?"  
"Don't worry about me, Captain. Just some bruising, s'all." She frowned.  
"I don't want you unable to fight if Skavak is in here. We can't harpoon him if he runs away, that's the thing." She looked him up and down. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"  
"I'm sure, Captain, trust me." He nodded. "Come on, I can't wait to get Torchy back." He gestured to the opening to the corridor just up the ramp.  
"And I can't wait for him to tell me where my damn ship is." Zavvi growled, pulling Flashy and her other gun from her holsters, and beginning to stalk up the ramp.

* * *

They heard voices as they went down the corridor, one Corellian, one definitely Imperial. The pair looked at each other with grins, and thinking the same thought: _We've got him now._  
As one, they ghosted up the wall, listening in. Zavvi didn't pay attention until she overheard that Skavak had a starship merchant hanging about in a docking bay in the spaceport. That had to be her ship he was keeping there! She was suddenly on fire with the need for vengeance, and Corso saw her tense up, just as she always did before a battle.  
"With me, Corso." He nodded, raising his rifle as they stormed into the middle of a meeting, ready to kick ass. "Sorry we're late to the party boys," Zavvi announced, grinning triumphantly, "traffic was crazy!" She looked to Skavak, a feral grin on her face. "Skavak! I believe you have some things of ours!"  
"Skavak! Is some sort of trick?!" The Imperial commander snapped at the thief.  
"Captain." Skavak snorted. "Seriously, I admire your persistence, but this is ridiculous." He seemed rather put out, which the Twi'lek revelled in.  
"Skavak, who is this woman?! One of your many conquests?" The Imperial exclaimed.  
"Heh...She wishes." Skavak sneered, the smuggler having to hold herself back from shooting him in the head.  
"I wouldn't touch you if it were to save my life." She spat. "In fact, I'd rather shoot myself in the head!"  
"Fiesty..." Skavak purred, before Corso growled menacingly, eyes cold and bloodthirsty.  
"You ain't gonna be nothing more than a floor stain when we're done with you, Skavak." He hissed, turning the Corellian's attention to the mercenary.  
"Corso, heard about your job. Don't let unemployment make you bitter, alright?" The Mantellian's hackles rose.  
"You leave him alone, Skavak." Zavvi snapped at him, and Skavak turned back to her.  
"You the one who fouled up my identity record and sent half the galaxy chasing after me, Captain? That wasn't very nice." The Twi'lek laughed humourlessly.  
"Hah! Says the thief who got Rogun the Butcher snapping at my heels! Let's see how much you like it!"  
"You know, holding onto anger like that will give you health problems."  
"I wonder how many health problems she can give you when she gets hold of you." Corso muttered to himself.  
"I can't believe you kept that Sullustan lawman alive, Captain. If it weren't for the Justicars, the little runt might have actually caught me." Skavak said, annoying everyone in the room.

Corso heard something, and glanced to his left, but noticed nothing amiss. Strange, he could have sworn he heard footsteps...  
"Enough of this!" The Imperial growled. "The captain is your problem, Skavak. Deal with it."  
"Commander, would you mind vaporizing the Captain for me instead? You see, I've got places to be..." The Corellian replied with a grin, before sprinting off. Corso spun around and charged at the thief, but was tripped before he could bash Skavak over the head with Sparky, falling onto his face.  
"Skavak!" The commander shouted at the thief, scowling furiously. "Blast that scoundrel! Always leaving me to clean up his messes."  
"Do you enjoy being Skavak's maid, Commander? 'Cos, you know, you'd look pretty in a dress like that." A howl of laughter came from Corso, who wasn't expecting a joke like that, which also made the other soldiers snigger quietly.  
"Silence!" The commander barked, and the soldiers quailed, the mercenary trying to stifle himself but not being able to get the image out of his head. The Imperial looked at Zavvi with death in his eyes. "You won't be leaving here alive, alien scum. We'll give you and your friend very nice unmarked graves."  
"I'd like to see you try." Zavvi grinned.

Somebody cleared their throat, and all eyes turned to a very familiar Sullustan lawman, Zavvi and Corso's eyes widening in horror.  
"Attention, Imperial lawbreakers! You are in violation of Statute 1983 of the Sullustan Criminal Code. Drop your weapons and surrender the gem!" Miel spoke, approaching the group.  
"Who do you think you are, giving me orders?! You're just as good as dead, alien filth!" The Imperial said furiously.  
"Miel, get back! It's too dangerous!" Zavvi cried, but her warning was not heeded.  
"Imperials, you are guilty of smuggling and crimes too numerous to mention. Do not make things harder on yourself by resisting arrest! I have already disabled your comlinks and cut you off from reinforcements! Drop your weapons now!" A horrible feeling coiled in the pit of Zavvi's stomach. She knew where this was going...  
"Spare me your false heroics." The commander spoke. "Men, kill these alien scum! I'm sure the human has bastard blood somewhere as well!"

Zavvi leapt to the side as the rifles boomed, and Corso's shield generator flickered to life just in time to take the hits. Miel, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky, a shot hitting him in the chest, spinning him away.  
"Miel!" The Twi'lek cried out, before she popped out of cover, Flashy and her other gun spitting plasma bolts.  
Corso charged forward, jamming his shoulder in between the commander's ribcage, forcing the man to the ground, the mercenary pinning him down.  
"You might think you're 'pure', Imp, but I was born true too." Corso growled, Zavvi's attacks keeping the other soldiers from aiding their commander whilst the mercenary forced his rifle's barrel under the Imperial's chin. "And let me tell you this; the Captain is better than you'll ever be, alien or not." Sparky bucked against his shoulder and the man was dead.  
Corso quickly rolled off the corpse as one of the soldiers fired towards him, retaliating with his own shots from Sparky, when the explosion of a thermal grenade threw bits of the other soldier to the ground. The last soldier made to panic and flee, but Corso gunned him down; they couldn't risk any more Imperials coming down on them.

They hurried over to Miel, laying on his side and bleeding out. Zavvi fell to her knees beside him, Corso looking on to make sure no-one could ambush them.  
"Miel!" She said. His large black eyes were starting to cloud over.  
"I...I do not think I will be filing any more reports." He said, agony in every word.  
"No no, don't say that." Zavvi begged. "W-We'll get you to a kolto tank, you'll be alright! You'll-" The Sullustan shook his head very slightly.  
"It is too late for that..." He grunted, pulling on his last reserves of strength. "I am unable to maintain the pursuit of Skavak. You must go on without me. I have something that will help you." He reached for his datapad.  
"Poor little guy..." Corso murmured softly. "He don't deserve to go out like this..." Zavvi took Miel's datapad from shaking, weak hands.  
"Find Skavak. Bring him to justice...for me..."  
"No, Miel!"

But it was too late. After a last, shuddering breath, Miel's muscles relaxed, and the light went out of his eyes.  
"No..." Zavvi bowed her head, lekku falling from her shoulders, and Corso closed his eyes.  
Nobody moved for a while, until Corso opened his eyes again. He took the liberty to crouch down beside her, gently closing Miel's eyes, impressed his fingers didn't shake.  
"He was a good person." The Mantellian said to no-one in particular, silence his only answer. He looked to her, and saw her eyes hollow and numb. He didn't know what she was feeling or thinking, but knew for certain that she was hurting.  
He reached out, paused, then rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here for you, Captain." Riggs felt a muscle twitch under his hand, and he gently squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. _Captain, you can cry..._ he thought to himself, _you can cry on my shoulder...I wouldn't think anything less of you..._

After a moment, though, he felt her body fill with strength once more, and let her shoulder go as she rose to her feet, brushing her lekku back over her shoulders. In her eyes was hate and rage, burning like a forest fire. His fists were clenched; she looked ready to enter battle once more.  
"I'm going to kill Skavak." She said coldly, emotionlessly. "I'm going to make him wish he'd never even been born."  
Getting to his feet without the slightest complaint, though being slightly nervous about her new disposition, all Corso said was:  
"Lead on, Captain."


	9. On the Horizon

Zavvi didn't speak the whole way to the spaceport, only using brief hand signals to direct Corso where she wanted him to go. Miel's datapad revealed the hangar her ship was docked in, and the only hope was that they wouldn't be too late to retrieve it before Skavak slipped away again.

The silence was sickeningly oppressive, her anger at such a degree the mercenary feared a backlash should he even attempt to open his mouth. He couldn't help but worry for her, especially when he remembered that she'd nearly put an end to Syreena in similar circumstances. He hoped that they could commandeer the ship and slip away, that there was no-one to become a target for a Twi'lek on the warpath.

Unfortunately for Corso, the starship merchant Skavak had mentioned was there, and he felt his heart sinking into his boots. _This ain't gonna go well..._He thought to himself.

Zavvi stalked over to the Bith merchant, her fingers plucking her weapons from their holsters. Corso kept close, trying to subtly take Sparky from his holster without drawing too much attention; he could feel many eyes on him, and figured this situation was going to escalate very quickly.

"Excuse me, but in case it wasn't obvious by the locked door you just sliced through, this is private docking bay." The merchant began, before Zavvi grabbed the cuff of his shirt, pulling him close.  
"Give me my ship right now, or I'm going to make you wish you'd never been born." Zavvi hissed, pressing Flashy's barrel to his large head.  
"Looks like Skavak was right about the troublemaker." The merchant spoke, somehow keeping his bravado. "Boys! You know what to do with them!"  
Corso growled as several mercenaries stepped out of the shadows, their guns ready. He turned to cover Zavvi's back.

The Twi'lek wasted no time, striking the merchant's crotch with her knee and throwing him to one side, turning on the mercenaries like a savage nexu. Unlike in their usual fights, when the smuggler would be shouting jibes and insults at her opponents, this time she was a stone cold killer, pumping her targets full of blaster holes. She only ducked behind her cover occasionally to avoid the blaster bolts sailing towards her, and when Corso snatched glances of her, he noticed only intense concentration in her eyes, mixed with a chilling coldness that made his skin crawl.

When the last mercenary was dead, she rounded on the merchant, who was now getting to his feet and trying to find a place to hide from her. Corso spotted the Captain flick her guns around, the barrels now resting in her palms as she stormed over to the unfortunate merchant. He fell to his knees, hands pleading.  
"All right, all right! I get it, I get it! P-Please don't kill me! I'm just a s-starship salesman!" He cried as she towered over him, face like thunder. Riggs quickly hurried over.  
"You tried to sell my ship off! You piece of shit!" She growled, and cracked Flashy across his face, and then again, the other direction.

She raised it for another swing, before a gauntlet grabbed her arm firmly. She glared at the Mantellian who held her, pure, seething rage bleeding from her green eyes that would have worried any Jedi. Yet his brown eyes held hers with a look of calmness, of peace, an oasis in the core of such fury.  
No-one spoke as they stared at each other, both sizing up each other's strength just through the connection of hand to arm. Zavvi, her anger blazing away, was quite capable of discharging her free weapon into Corso, who merely stared back at her, her wordless voice of reason, fearless in the face of a twitching blaster barrel inches away from discharging its payload right into his hip. His own rifle dipped towards the floor, and even so he wouldn't retliate even against his Captain's attack.  
Hours seemed to tick away as the combatants held their pose, before the Twi'lek's eyes fell, and the human felt the strength wane. Guilt washed over her anger, not knowing Corso wasn't judging her for her mistake, having made one similar not so long ago. He lowered her arm, before he smiled softly, a smile the smuggler could not look at.

Corso turned to the merchant, who took the chance to start babbling again.  
"L-Listen, your ship, the XS Stock Light Freighter, it's in great shape. All the cargo's in place, I even have it all detailed! T-there's no harm done, right?"  
"Not yet," said Corso, smiling, "but you owe the Captain a little something extra for all her trouble, don't you think?" Although asked politely, there was an unmistakable edge of steel that dared the Bith to argue.  
"O-Of course, I can get you some nice ship upgrades and charge the bill to Skavak's account. I'll even throw the ship droid I installed on there for free! I-Interested?"  
"That sounds good. What do you think, Captain?" He asked her. She scowled a moment, before saying;  
"Sure. Order them, but to a different hangar, and don't worry about any under a day delivery time." She glanced to Corso. "I have plans." She said, simply. "Order them here, so I can see what you're doing. I don't need any more excuses to blow your head off."

The merchant nodded hurriedly, tapping frantically on his datapad, asking Zavvi only for the coordinates for her new hangar. When he was done, Zavvi gruffly hauled him to his feet.  
"Now, you get out of my sight right now, and if I find Skavak on my butt soon after I let you go, I will hunt you down and blow every one of your limbs off, and then your head. Do I make myself clear?" Zavvi hissed, Corso wincing at the graphic punishment.  
"Crystal clear!" The merchant squeaked, quickly scurrying off when he was let go, her murderous eyes watching him leave.

Zavvi holstered her weapons, clenching and unclenching her fists as she began to try and calm herself down, trying to reason with herself about not letting her anger hurt others that weren't Skavak. But she'd been so angry that he'd tried to sell her ship! It was unforgivable!  
Corso holstered his rifle, trotting over to the hangar doors. He quickly sliced them open, his eyes widening at the small part of the ship he could see from here. He looked towards the Captain, who'd looked up at the sound of the doors opening.  
For some reason, Corso found it appropriate to gesture grandly, bowing slightly.  
"My lady, your ship." He stretched his hand out to the freighter as Zavvi walked over and through the door, hesitating. Corso watched her start to walk forward slowly, as if she was in a trance, and he followed, in awe as the ship revealed itself as the rest of the hangar slid away.

She was a magnificent specimen of her make, and the merchant hadn't lied when he'd said she'd been kept in great condition, the only caveat being something having been scuffed off the side. Everything else was perfect, and the mercenary just couldn't stop looking his captain's ship over, in the knowledge it would be his new home for the foreseeable future, and understanding a little more why she'd been so eager to get it back.

Corso was dragged from his musing as Zavvi suddenly broke into a run, throwing her arms around one of the landing gears like she was reuniting with a lost friend. He jogged closer, and thought he heard her refer to the _Skylark_ as her 'baby' and 'sweetheart'.  
Where once was anger, now was joy and light, and she quickly got into her ship with little trouble, hurrying up the steps, before she paused, glancing down towards the mercenary standing at the base of the ramp.

As she looked at him, Zavvi realized she'd never have got here, back home, without his aid. She was so lucky to have picked him up on Ord Mantell; where would she have been if she hadn't? She could only think that he'd more than earned his place on her crew, and a part of her wished that he would stay for the foreseeable future.  
The Twi'lek backed down a couple of steps before she reached a hand out to him, smiling.

He placed one foot onto the lowest step, reached up high, and clasped her hand with his, a broad grin pulling across his face.

* * *

The captain was nothing if not meticulous as she entered her ship, checking every nook and cranny to see if her beloved starship was alright. She was tailed by the ship droid C2, and Corso wandered off to take in his surroundings. At first sight, the ship seemed rather cramped, what with its circular corridor and the fact the ship was so tightly packed with rooms, not a slight bit of space wasted. As the mercenary found the crew bunks, he noticed two of them were in use. Bizarre...Surely it was only Skavak on the ship? Though the Mantellian took comfort with the fact that he hadn't slept in the captain's quarters. _She properly has a code for there... _He thought to himself.

As he continued his trek, he noticed there was something in the cargo hold. Creeping as quietly as he could in heavy military gear, Corso moved to the door, and peeked in, and to his surprise found it stocked with a lot of strange things, such a man stored in carbonite, a creepy head in the jar, and the fact there was a beast in a cage just off to the left, snarling and pacing.  
He must have made a noise, and he jumped as a woman asked him:

"Can I help you?" He hadn't spotted her there, and just gaped at her for a few seconds, trying to string a sentence together to explain why he was wondering around. Thankfully, Zavvi's voice drifted over as she approached.  
"Hey Corso, do we still have the cargo of blasters? Maybe we can-" Riggs stepped back to let the Twi'lek in the doorway, who took in the sight of the cargo hold and the mystery woman with an incomprehensible look.  
"Um, what are you doing in my cargo hold?" Zavvi began. The woman didn't look too bothered, strangely enough.

"I expected to be the only other person on this ship." She drawled, looking between the pair. "I assume you're not one of Skavak's special friends." Zavvi snorted.  
"He wishes! I'd rather let my associate here push him out of the airlock after shooting in the head." She jerked a thumb at Corso. "Besides, I was gonna ask you the same question."  
"Skavak and I are anything but friends." She sniffed. "Frankly, I don't know what girls see in him."  
Zavvi shrugged.  
"Me neither. Who are you, anyway?"  
My name's Risha, and I've been travelling with Skavak on a purely business arrangement." The Twi'lek and young man glanced at each other. He'd been busy. The woman gestured to the cargo hold. "He and I had a deal to deliver all the things you see here."

The smuggler looked around the hold a moment.  
"This wasn't his ship to use, but I can't see why I can't do his job for him." Corso blinked. "Assuming you'll pay me, of course." Zavvi said. Risha looked amused.  
"You must have read my mind, Captain. Skavak was being unreliable anyway, and I can assure you that at the end of this there will be a big, fat payoff." Zavvi's eyes gleamed, before the holo whistled for attention.  
"Bet that's Skavak, Captain." Corso grinned widely.  
"This should be an interesting conversation." Risha said, and the group headed off to the main room.

* * *

Skavak was not happy.  
"You're late, Skavak." Risha began briskly. "And I made a new friend. I think you will loathe each other."  
"Hi Skavak!" Zavvi chirped eagerly, Corso unable to keep a wide, smug grin off his lips.  
"Congratulations, Captain." Skavak growled. "You're officially number one on my list of people to kill."  
"You know, this wouldn't have happened if you didn't steal my ship, Skavvie..." Zavvi mused, Corso snorting back his laughter.  
"I don't know what you find so funny, Corso. I'm going to kill you too!"  
"Sure, Skavvie..." Corso replied, barely able to keep a straight face.  
"When I get my hands on you both, you'll wish you'd never left Ord Mantell."  
"Ohh, I'm so scared!" The captain wiggled her hands. "'Sides, I'd like to see you come and get me now!"  
"You bet I will, and I guarantee you won't see me coming until it's too late!" Skavak replied furiously. "I don't know how you got past those Imperials, but next time I'll kill you myself, assuming Rogun the Butcher doesn't get you first."  
"Bring it on." Corso muttered, eyes challenging.  
"I sold all those blasters from Ord Mantell, Captain, so I don't think he'll be very happy with you for losing them." He smirked slightly.  
"I'll take him on when he comes." The Twi'lek raised her chin high, eyes defiant. "And I'm gonna do it with Corso, and we're not going to go down without a fight." Pride straightened the mercenary's back, feeling his heart flutter. Skavak sneered, his bravado bleeding back through.  
"What? You and that hick over there? Take on Rogun the Butcher? This is the funniest thing I've ever heard! Should take that show on the road, Captain!"

Risha cleared her throat.  
"Are you done posturing, Skavak? The captain and I have cargo to deliver." Zavvi smirked at how that raised the Corellian's ire so easily. She liked this woman already.  
"Don't even think about cutting me out of this deal, Risha!" He snapped.  
"'Finders keepers'. Isn't that what you always say?" She chuckled. "Not your fault the captain here beat you to the big prize."  
"Sweetheart, you two just made the biggest mistake of your lives." He scowled, cutting the channel.

"I thought that blowhard would never switch off." Risha snorted, before turning to Zavvi. "So, we were about to discuss the business deal..."

* * *

Apparently the items in the cargo hold, though all bizarre and seemingly unrelated, were parts of some sort of key when traded for starship parts unable to be obtained through other means. This key was to the treasure of a wealthy dead gangster Nok Drayen, and Risha had all the information to get at it, as well as all the items in Zavvi's ship. The only suspicious things were that she seemed to have no interest in the wealth herself and that she was keeping her cards close to her chest, the latter the Twi'lek could hardly blame her for.

After the deal was struck, Risha agreed to get some deals set up (Skavak had been slow getting an item for her, so she was behind on it), and retired to her bunk. Corso watched her go, joining his captain as she went to the main holo.  
"You trust her, Captain?" He asked her. Zavvi paused, then shrugged.  
"Yeah. I do right now. I can see she's the kinda woman who could get up people's noses, but best thing to do is keep civil and let them have their way whilst bending them slightly." She replied to him. "She doesn't think much of you, does she?"  
"No. Probably thinks of me as some backwater hick." Corso frowned. She rested her hand against his arm, squeezing it gently.  
"Well, I don't think so." Zavvi smiled. "There's more going on to you than most people see. They're just too quick to judge."

He blinked with surprise.  
"R-Really, Captain?" Her smiled widened.  
"Of course." She patted his arm. "Prep the ship for take-off, Corso. I've been away from the stars for far too long..."  
"Aye aye." He moved away from her, albeit a bit reluctantly, and she watched him leave.

* * *

Corso had never heard such a joyous shout as he'd heard when Zavvi was behind the yoke of her beloved _Skylark_. He'd clung to a chair as the freighter had leapt into the sky, the slightest twitch from the captain mirrored almost perfectly in the ship's movements; as if they were one and the same. The engines roared triumphantly as they breached the atmosphere, the cry from the Twi'lek one of pure joy.

She soon set a course to Ord Mantell, keeping her promise to Corso to let him return to gather his belongings and move into her ship for the time being. Risha was as sniffy about the farm boy's presence in the crew quarters as they'd expected her to be, but it was reasoned that Corso was preferred over Skavak, if only for the fact he wouldn't be pawing at her the entire journey. Corso had blushed very deeply at that and stuttered that he'd never even consider doing that to a lady, which only opened him up to being teased into oblivion.

As much as the smuggler watched to throw open the cabinets in the mess and down the contents of the liquor bottles in a drunken celebration, she held herself back. First, she had to sort her crew out. Then, she needed to bestow some tender loving care on the _Skylark_, as she'd noticed the Corellian scumbag had tried to scratch off the name of her starship, among other things, such as the merchant's promised upgrades.

The merchant. Zavvi stared out at the swirling expanse of hyperspace glumly. Again, she'd let her anger take root, again she'd almost killed someone; she'd been in the frame of mind to bludgeon the Bith to death, and had Corso not stopped her, she was under no pretence that she would have carried it out easily.  
She sighed, resting her head back against her chair. She'd been so stressed, what with trying to find Skavak, getting shot at all the time, and the fact she hadn't been able to save Miel had just caused it to reach its peak. The merchant's arrogant behaviour had been the catalyst that just pushed her over the edge. Again, she thanked the Force that Corso had been with her to stop her. She found it ironic that after she'd told him to not let his need for vengeance get ahead of him, it was him having to stop her taking her anger out on others.

The Twi'lek was washed from her musings when the Mantellian strolled into the bridge, and sat down in the chair on the other side, staring first out at hyperspace, then at her.  
"You alright, Captain?" He asked.  
"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine, don't worry about me, Corso. I'm just soaking up my ship again." She smiled. "It's like someone's dunked me in a nice warm bath after a cold walk up a mountain." She nodded, her smile a dreamy one. "I just feel complete again, ya know? Like I belong."  
Corso nodded as well.  
"Yeah, I can understand that, Captain." He glanced out at the swirling nonsense outside. "How'd you end up out here, anyway? Did you ever want anything more...normal?"  
"I came from normal." Zavvi replied. "Like I told you, my parents were loving, took care of me, sent me to school...I was very lucky, honestly. Grew up in a part of Coruscant that wasn't shit, born free, got education, didn't get bombed by the Imps." She glanced to him. "But normal is boring. So I took up this life." He glanced to her, as if he sensed she wasn't telling him the whole story. Something played on his lips.  
"So you weren't thinking of a husband? Or kids? Or someone to take care of you?" Her brow furrowed. What was he playing at?

She gave him a steely look.  
"Sounds like you're talking about yourself. Except for the husband thing, unless you swing that way. But if you do, that's fine, just let me know in advance, ya know? Wouldn't want it to get awkward." She hid her smirk at his bright blush, successfully pulling him off balance.  
"Wha-? No! No, I uh, I'm straight, Captain!" He stumbled, shifting awkwardly as he tried to get his thoughts in order. "I don't go, uh, the other way. I uh..."  
"I was asking you if you wanted a wife and kids in the future, if that was your dream." Zavvi said, hoping to get him back on track.  
"Well uh..." He trailed off. "Maybe in the future. When all of this is over, of course, when I'm older."  
"When you find a nice girl?" He paused for longer than was comfortable.  
"Yeah." That didn't sound certain at all. The Twi'lek eyed him, aware now he wasn't looking at her. He swallowed. "But don't you want anyone to...take care of you, maybe later on in life?"

She snorted.  
"Corso, if I need anyone to take care of me, it'll be because my sight will have failed and I can only count to potato." She glared at him.  
Riggs winced.  
"Ah, I didn't mean any offence, Captain. I was only asking it had ever been a thought, something you considered." He said softly. "I do want what my parents had...a wife, maybe some youngsters if she wanted them...but it's too early to consider it. They're just dreams."

Zavvi softened. She'd been too harsh on the boy, and made too many assumptions. He wasn't a bad man either, so let her armour open just a sliver.  
"Well...I am considering retiring rich, and going somewhere peaceful, where I can live out the rest of my life in peace." She admitted. "With a partner?" She frowned. "I don't honestly know. I wouldn't want to court anyone once I've retired; I'd just want to be left alone. But being a relationship with somebody in this sort of job is so dangerous...and so unfair."  
"How so, Captain?"  
"Well...It's so easy for one half to get killed or kidnapped or tortured to hurt the other. It leaves all the love to waste, and it causes such unnecessary pain and hurt for one another." She sighed. "If I loved a person, I couldn't put them through all that pain."  
"What if the other didn't care for it, and loved you no matter all that?" Corso asked. Her smile was lopsided and humourless.  
"I'd call them stupid and I'd try to ward them away." The human looked crestfallen.  
"Even if you loved them as much as they loved you?"  
"Yes. I just couldn't put them through it." She replied, though she felt unsure, and she could sense his sceptism, but thankfully he said nothing.

An ugly silence settled for a while, making both of them feel uncomfortable. Corso looked strangely morose, and for some reason, Zavvi couldn't abide to see him so down.  
"You got any tales from your time in the Brigade?" She asked him. "Seemed like your time there made an impact on you."  
She noticed his mood lift, which lifted her too.  
"Yeah. I met a mercenary on Clak'dor Seven. He'd been fighting for the Republic fer twenty years. I was sixteen, fresh off the ship. This guy...he gave me my first blaster." He smiled, and Zavvi glanced down at her side arm, nestled in its holster. Still, that did surprise her; she knew Riggs as a man who could rattle off a blaster's specs without even pausing for breath, and even though she didn't know his true age (she'd pinned him as being slightly older than her), it seemed surprising he'd only received his first proper blaster at sixteen, especially he'd joined at fourteen...She wondered if he was remembering things oddly.

Zavvi chuckled softly.  
"I thought you country boys grow up shooting, 'specially you Corso." She grinned as she saw him flush pink.  
"Oh, well, thanks, Captain, but...Sure, I've handled a hunting rifle 'fore, but never anything aimed at people." He shuffled uncomfortably, watching her nod in understanding. It was a loss of innocence both had gone through, and she knew better than to inquire when he first ended a person's life. Zavvi remembered her's as clear as a bell, but never spoke of it. She tried never to revel in killing, finding it grossly unnecessary and frankly not usually good business sense.

Corso continued his tale.  
"This guy told me: 'Gun's just a tool. You use it to destroy, or you use it to protect against those who would destroy you.'"  
"Wise words." Zavvi replied, before her smile warmed. "And you took them to heart." Corso looked down to one of his long legs, balanced on the knee of the other.  
"Made me think different 'bout guns. You can't protect the people you love if you're afraid to get your hands dirty." He said, and she noticed the light in his brown eyes dim. "I brought Flashy and Torchy home, and my parents made me lock 'em up, told me not to 'wish away peace'." The last part was bitter. A brief pause. "I...didn't have them when the seps came." He finished on a whisper, closing his eyes.

He heard the rustle of clothing and the soft sounds of her boots, but wasn't expecting anything like what happened next. He felt her presence by his side, and then her arms encircled him, pulling him closer, her breath ghosting over his dreadlocks. If the mood wasn't so raw, the farm boy would have certainly blushed, but right now her comfort was needed. Corso wasn't the man to sit and brood about his past for ages; he hadn't had the time, for starters, but he felt the need to sit and deal with the pain of losing his family once more.

He wondered about the captain's family. Though she mentioned she had a father and mother, so never confirmed or denied the existence of siblings, and he was unsure if the parents were alive or dead. _I hope for her sake they're alive..._Corso thought to himself.

The mercenary's hand rested against one of her arms, staring back out at the swirling background, burning the moment into his brain, just them, filling her warmth brushing against his, her sympathy and comfort surrounding him like a blanket.

All too soon, an alarm sounded, alerting them to the fact they were about to drop out of hyperspace. Zavvi moved away to tend to her ship, and Corso felt the loss of her arms around him more keenly than he'd ever expected.

Even as his home planet loomed up before them, Corso couldn't help but gaze at the captain at the helm.


	10. Let the Sun Rise

The Republic was very happy to let Zavvi settle into one of the hangars in Fort Garnik and send a few soldiers over, to stop her ship being stolen again, but they warned her that the volcano on Avilatan was starting looked like it was ready to erupt, so not to linger. The Twi'lek grimaced as she heard the news; it had been rumbling and shaking when she and Corso had ventured through it, so it wasn't a shock, but the mountain was huge and if it went off, she had no doubt the entire place would be buried.

She shook her head of the thoughts, and accompanied Corso back to Rendia Freight, the soldiers nodding to them as they passed. The Republic had cleared out the bodies from the warehouse and some of the cargo, but personal affects had all been left in the sudden realization the volcano was playing up.

Corso said little as they walked there, and paused outside the door, the soldiers moving aside so they could pass.  
"Corso," Zavvi asked, "do you want to go in alone?" He shook his head.  
"Come with me, please?" He asked, much to her surprise.  
"If that's what you want." She replied, stepping back to let him lead, a mere bystander in his territory.

Neither had much Force sensitivity, but both could sense the general gloom and sadness that hung over the place, eerily silent, the large space mostly empty except for crates and cargo that didn't really have places to go which were just sitting there, forlorn as the building they resided in.  
She glanced to Corso, his eyes hollow, the only sounds coming from him the slight hiss of breath from his nostrils and his boots against the metal floor. The Twi'lek wanted to speak to him, but no words could come to her that didn't seem insulting to the situation.  
She followed him to where the barracks was, stopping outside to let Corso collect the rest of his stuff, watching from the corner of her eye.

With every item removed, a memory of his time here was put to rest. The brawls between their outfit and the Republic soldiers. Sharing a drink down in Avilatan's Rest Cantina. Singing old songs between one another as they hauled. Viidu laughing. The rumble of starships overhead. Potshotting seps at night. A picture of his family.  
A hot, wet tear slid off his eyelashes and down his cheek, dipping in and out his scar furrows before it obeyed gravity, splashing onto his trouser leg. Will alone held back his ragged breathing as he remembered what once was. His gloved thumb stroked the figures, another tear flopping onto the metal floor.

He sniffed, hating the sound, closed his eyes. Two times now, he'd lost his family. Nothing but the Void itself would stop him protecting her, his third 'family' now. He could feel her eyes on him, even though she was trying to give him privacy, giving him time to let him put things in order. Corso had to smile slightly, and his heart fluttered.

Pausing only to wipe his eyes, Riggs climbed to his feet, gathering his stuff and turning to Zavvi, her eyes lingering with his.  
"I'm ready to go, Captain." She nodded, and led the way out.

* * *

Back above Coruscant, Zavvi decided it was overdue a celebration, and despite Risha rolling her eyes and retiring to the cargo hold, the captain dragged her first mate all the way to the galley, opening the liquor cabinet with a sparkle igniting in her eyes at the fact it was fully stocked.  
"Oh no Corso, look at all these beers I don't like. Well, looks like I'm going to have to drink them all..." She sighed dramatically.  
"You don't need to, Captain. I could drink them for you." Corso spoke, her joke flying over his head. Zavvi only giggled to him.  
"Aw, but the bad tasting ones always have the most kick!" She pulled a couple of bottles at random out of the cupboard, Corso being reminded of one drinking game he and his buddies had played after work. How he'd managed to get back to the warehouse afterwards had always been a bit of haze; one that involved sizable bruises to his head and the loss of one of his boots that he never did find again. Needless to say, Viidu wasn't impressed when most of his workforce turned up with pounding headaches. Corso had felt under the weather most of the day too, and resolved to try not get himself back into that state again; the last thing he wanted was to discover the hardness of the buildings in Fort Garnik using his face.

But the Twi'lek was right; they might as well celebrate getting her ship back. Corso didn't know what the liquid was that was poured for him, and figured he'd find out in the next few seconds. They toasted their victory against Skavak, throwing back their drinks, Corso coughing at the burning sensation that gnashed at his throat.  
"Ugh! How can you tolerate this, Captain?" Riggs grimaced, to the musical laughs of the smuggler.  
"Like I said, farm boy, these ones are only for the kick, not the taste!" She grinned at him.  
"Why can we have anythin' like that Coruscanti stuff I had?" He asked, staring at his half-full glass glumly. "That tasted nice, at least." She paused thoughtfully.  
"I'll get some in if you like it, but we need to make room first!" She chuckled, gesturing to the full liquor cabinet. "And since I don't like to let anything go to waste, me and you are going be drinking our way through them!"  
_Aw, great._ Corso thought. _What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

Three bottles in, that thought had long since been forgotten, and in his drunken haze, Corso was contented and pleased with himself. The liquor was still as foul as ever, but the human was past caring.  
Zavvi watched the mercenary slowly descend into his stupor with great amusement, though she was in a similar state, and as such thoughts about how big certain parts of Corso's anatomy were didn't embarrass her in the slightest.  
The Mantellian smiled warmly.  
"Booy, Captain," he began, his drawl swirling like the liquid in his glass, "life with you is almost enuff t' get me missin' the good ol' days!" He leant back in his chair. "Ah, fer Ord Mantell. Where separatists were bad an' guns were good, an' we could jus' run in shootin'!" He gestured grandly, and the smuggler felt herself grinning widely, slinking around the counter flirtatiously, chest low.  
"I could be persuaded into a little drunken gunplay..." She purred. Now she had a ship back, Zavvi could concentrate on the finer things in life, and her inebriation brought her desires to the forefront. Her eyes swirled over him, feeling her body heat up as she remembered his well-defined muscles, the slight, musky scent that she caught when they were too close, and that very fine backside he had...

Corso chuckled. She noticed his eyes pause very briefly on her breasts, before politely returning to her eyes.  
"I'm not drunk!" He declared. "Jus' tipsy!" Zavvi smirked. _Nope, you're drunk, handsome._"I could still bullseye an Imp at a thous'nd paces!" He lurched to the side unsteadily as he clambered to his feet, frowning. "Jus' we have 't do so much thinkin' bout it first." The way his lower lip popped out like he was some petulant child was strangely amusing to the Twi'lek.

"Why don't we have more fun on this ship?" He suddenly said, sniggering. "Back home, when we needed a laugh, we used to run the rontos in circles," he twirled his finger, "then see if they could charge us without fallin' over!" He broke into more chuckling at the memory, Zavvi shaking her head.  
"You're a one, farm boy. But that past time...Nah, sorry, can't do on this ship. No room fer rontos." She said, wagging her finger at him.  
"Awww!" He moaned.  
Another thought slid into Zavvi's clouded mind, that made her grin seductively, propping herself against the counter.  
"But tell, me farm boy...Have you any suggestions that don't, involve farm animals?" She purred.

Corso looked at her, the tipsy glaze over his eyes clearing and the smuggler noticed the mercenary's pupils suddenly swell, his body turning towards hers. He took a step, closing in to her.  
"I've got a few..." Another step, now mere inches apart, his hands coming to rest either side of her. "But, uh, they might take a while to explain." A half step, and he was so close their warmth mingled, she could smell that musky scent, and she could easily brush against him by merely lifting her hand. His brown eyes were dark, his mouth slightly open so she could hear his breath deepen, and she was tempted to touch the dreadlocks that swung by his cheeks, seeing how his hair was woven into it.  
"Care to let me show you?" He asked, breath wisping across her lips. Zavvi's heart thumped, and her eyes lidded. She'd only need to lean up just a tiny bit to capture his lips with hers. A part of her cried out for more; he was already standing over her, why not? She so desperately wanted a release after all this stress...

Their eyes were locked at this moment, so Zavvi caught the unmistakable switch of clarity in Corso's expressive eyes. It was a spark of fear that lit them, and the young man recoiled from her as he'd been stung, stumbling back frantically to bang loudly into the wall. Zavvi jerked too, as if someone had ripped a piece from her chest, and it threw her back to consciousness as well, as her common sense tried to sort out the mess her addled mind had gotten itself into.  
"I-I'm sorry!" Corso began. "I-I-I shouldn't 've said that!" His arms flailed, trying to scrabble his way up the wall as his legs didn't seem to want to work. His eyes were wide, and he seemed to have numerous emotions crashing around in his eyes; fear, excitement, guilt, maybe a slight sliver of anger?  
"Why? 'Fraid I'm gonna turn you down? I have a few ideas of my own I could show you..." Zavvi almost bite her tongue out as the liquor throbbed uncomfortably in her veins. This wasn't the thing to say, it certainly was the time either. She fought of reasonable control of her head, reasoning to drink some water as soon after this was done.  
"It's not right, me propositioning you like, like some Hutt's dancer, you deserve better." He replied, somehow managing to stand upright now. "You deserve a man you can let your guard down with, someone who'll take care of you for a change."

She wasn't sure if it was her current state or something else, but she knew she would have battered him for that comment. And yet she felt as if the liquor had brought down some of Corso's walls, that she was getting a rare glimpse into his soul. Or maybe her head was warped.  
However, the Twi'lek didn't deny feeling a part of her cry out with joy when he'd backed off from her; as much as he was very attractive and she'd love to roll in the hay with him, it just didn't seem...right, somehow. Also the fact he'd treated her just a like a person, not an item that her species had become in the eyes of many...  
The smuggler wobbled.  
"I don't need anyone t' take care of me." She muttered, jerking her chin up. She needed to make that clear. Corso smiled.  
"You're the strongest woman I've ever met, no, strongest person, period." He said. "I'd fight for you, with you, at any command you give." He bowed his head, his voice only a couple of decibels above a whisper. "I just think you deserve more."

If that didn't touch the captain's core, few other things would. She hesitated, a very slight blush on the top of her cheeks, feeling strangely honoured that he'd see her in such a way, and she felt her heart skip a beat.  
"Well..." She began again, seeing Corso's eyes flick up to peer at her through his eyelashes. "I wonder where I could find...a man...to let my guard down with."  
"I'm not gonna presume anything, Captain." He straightened, shaking his head slightly, whilst a blush alighted on his cheeks too. "But I...I'd like you to consider letting me show you I can be something more..."  
There was an awkward pause, before Corso grunted.  
"I'm sorry, Captain...I...I need to go lie down." One hand against the wall, he stumbled his way out, pausing at the doorway as he tried to remember which way the crew quarters were.  
"Go right, first on your left." Zavvi called quietly to him, watching him move away with a sigh. _I need a drink of water..._

* * *

Each of Corso's steps was dogged by a curse word resonating in his head. Blast it all! He'd tried so hard to not act like Skavak and all the others, and what had he done? Come on to her like the only thing he was interested in was her fine body and- Stop thinking about her like that! Look at all the trouble it's brought you; what's the difference between you and all the other men that wink at her and say all those suave things now? She probably just thinks you're just the same too...

He was relieved when he saw Risha wasn't in the crew quarters. The last thing he wanted was her goading him. A good night's sleep would do the trick...  
_She deserves so much better than those guys._ He thought sadly. _But how do I make her see?_ He pulled the band of fabric from his hair, letting his dreadlocks free. He ran his hand through them, letting some droop over his face. _I'm gonna have one hell of hangover in morning. Guess I kinda deserve it, really._  
The mercenary sighed when he was changed, clambering up onto the top bunk away from where Risha sleeping, pulling the duvet around him and over his head.

He didn't see the figure in the darkness, her light green eyes glittering.

* * *

There was a rather sombre mood that hung over the _Skylark _as she touched down in a more private hangar on Coruscant that would make sure Zavvi could go over her ship in peace, without fearing someone nicking it.

She could see Corso was nursing a nasty hangover as well as a very sad mood, and for some reason, she couldn't abide it. The captain ordered the mercenary to gather some supplies, trying to make out that the night before hadn't happened, as she figured that was what was troubling him so much. The guilt gnawed at her.

He protested feebly, wanting to keep his pounding head under control, but after asking him politely several times and with the bribe of a tonic to cure his pains, he eventually agreed. His gait looked defeated, and her heart twisted, conflicted whether to tend to her ship first or her first mate. Her fingers drummed on the metal wall when she heard Risha behind her.

"What's snuffed his spark out?" She drawled, looking at the captain.

"I did something stupid to him, last night." The Twi'lek replied. "I don't really wanna talk about it."

"You're together?" Risha had a slight grin on her lips as the younger woman spun to face her.

"No! We're just...associates, he just works for me. We're just friends." She said firmly. Risha shrugged.

"You're very concerned about how he feels." She pointed out.

"Well, yeah, because I want him to work to his fullest." Zavvi replied. "And clearly he's not right now. Just wish I knew what to do to get him out of his funk."

"Why are you asking me?" The older woman raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who's been with him long enough. Surely get him something he likes. Men are usually easier to keep happy like that."

Zavvi frowned a little while, trying to think of a something, before she had a brainwave. _Of course! That's just what he needs!_

* * *

Corso returned in good time, and noticed the name '_Skylark_' had been repainted on the ship's side in black paint, the Aurebesh characters clear and proud. He smiled slightly, but it was not enough to shift the weight in his heart.

He dropped said supplies off with little fanfare, and trudged down to the workbench in the cargo hold. Risha was out doing something, and the Captain would be tied up sorting out the supplies, so Riggs had time to himself in the cargo hold, time he was going to spend going over his weapons, especially Sparky, who'd taken a rather nasty beating during their time on Coruscant.

He set the rifle down on the bench, looking over the weapon with a critical and sympathetic eye.

"You took a right old walloping out there, didn't ya?" He whispered to Sparky, his fingers tracing all the lines and curves. He looked to the harpoon mechanism that looked like it had gone through about two wars in a row. "And we lost Whiplash..." He shook his head, opening the drawers to look for his tools he'd only set in there a day before. That day, that night when...

Corso shook his head, glancing to Hewie briefly.

"Never had to worry 'bout what a lady really thought of me before, did I?" He asked them. "So long as I was polite an' nice to them, didn't have a bit of problem. We never had any problem with Syreena 'til Skavak got her, did we?" He knew they'd never give him any answer, but the mercenary was comforted by the illusion that they were listening to him. "S'all changed now." He sat down, starting to take Sparky apart. "Do you remember when we first saw her, Sparks? I weren't expectin' a Captain like her at all. She's so pretty, with a smile that makes her eyes light up an' her lekku are jus' gorgeous with them tattoos and the way they move when she does..." Sparky was in pieces now, his fingers on autopilot as he spoke to his weapons, slowly venting the feelings he'd bottled up since the night before.

"An' I never knew 'til saw how nice she was too, like helping them refugees out an' not charging 'em a thing, or that family." A smile as he began to work on the dismantled weapon. "She's in it fer more than the credits, 'cos she's always try'na help people out an' she never lets the bad guys get away. She's real good at fighting too, but you've seen her fer yourselves" His smile saddened. "Yeah, it's such a shame she won't let herself...love." Corso shifted uncertainly in his chair. "There's gotta be a way I can show her..."

He snorted suddenly, brows furrowing.

"Yeah, it'd all be easier if I hadn't goofed up last night!" His fists and shoulders clenched. "I knew I shouldn't 've drank so much. Shoulda been more careful, but no, I drank too much, and then look what happens!" He hung his head. "What's she thinking of me? I'll tell ya; she can't tell the difference between me and all the other fellas that are always looking at her and have them lines." He shrugged. "There's no way I can ever be that suave, Sparks. What am I? Probably just some dumb farm boy to her...A dumb farm boy just, you know, after _that_, not like, havin' a crush on her or anythin'..."

Corso slumped, looking sadly at the harpoon mechanism. He really needed a new harpoon head, but he'd have to do a ton of modifications to the points to make sure they didn't break off under too much force, and the cable was frayed on the end where it connected to the head, so he'd have to use some more cable, as cutting it shorter wasn't really an option. They could recycle the frayed cable for something else, though, he hoped.

He tensed suddenly, as if he sensed a judgement. He shot a glare at Hewie, then at the reformed Sparky.

"Fine, okay, you're right. It's not just a crush any more. It's a bit more than that. Better?" His brows furrowed. "I don't know if it's anything more than that, okay? It might be, or it might not." He shot another glare at Hewie. "Look, I don't know, I've never met a woman like her before! I jus'...want to make sure I do it right. I don't wanna be like all the others..." He sighed. "But looks like I've screwed everything up now..."

The Mantellian shook his head, getting up and crossing to his locker to look at some of his other weapons. He hesitated as he heard something electronic burble behind him. The creature in the cage growled too, shifting around and away from a box near its crate that the sound was coming from. Curious, Corso wandered over it, noticing that it was closed, but some Aurebesh had been hurriedly scrawled on the top of the lid, reading: 'For C.R.' The young man figured that was him, since Zavvi didn't have a surname, and Risha had never given one. And if it was hers...Corso didn't really care.

As he opened the box, he noticed there was a lot of packaging material, hiding most of what was inside, but there was a holocomm nestled on the top, a light flashing to indicate a message had been recorded.

He lifted it from the box, hitting the button. The image of the captain flickered into view.

"First off, if I'm talking to Risha, put this back, the message ain't for you. It clearly has his initials on the box, and what's in there is of no interest to you anyway." She tapped her foot, frowning, before she smiled, looking sheepish. "If you're Corso, then sorry for the intro, but I dunno if she likes to poke her nose into things or not." She sighed, her image shimmering as she hung her head. "Look, Corso...I'm sorry about last night. I overdid it with the drinking and..." Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "What can I say? I provoked you."

"I realized...After you went...You'd be blaming what happened on yourself." The Twi'lek's small chuckle was humourless. "If anything, farm boy, you were the one that stopped it going any further, from...causing regrets, you know?" She looked up through her eyelashes. "So, thank you. Thank you a ton. Thank you for being the only one with any sense left in his head that night." Corso's eyes were wide. "I'm sorry I got us into that mess. And I'm sorry I didn't catch up with you, but we still weren't in a good condition, and then Risha was all around in the morning, and I don't want her making gossip about us." She was standing in a way that made Corso want to reach out and cradle her image in his hand, hold her close to him.

"So again, I'm sorry what happened last night happened. All I wanted was a little celebration after we got my ship back and all, not for me to upset you like I did...I got you some things, whilst you were out. I think you'll like 'em, but please feel free to tell me if you need them changed or something." She paused for a while this time, tracing spirals with her foot, as if thinking of something to say. Corso was about to turn the recording off when she lifted her head to speak again. "Corso...Please let us still be friends. I really like you, and you've been such a great partner...I hate for this to come between us..." And then the recording went dead, Corso's heart missing a beat in pure joy.

"Of course..." He whispered to the cargo hold. "Of course we're still friends, Captain." He took a minute to just smile, eyes closed with the holocom resting against his forehead and his heart hammering against his ribcage. _Thank the stars...And thank the Force..._ He thought to himself.

Placing the holocomm to one side, Corso began to rummage, pushing the packaging aside, and when he saw his prize, his eyes lit up brightly. Nestled in the packaging were three new harpoon heads, with points reinforced and miles of strong cabling coiled around underneath them.

"Okay, I'll admit it..." Corso sighed, a great grin spreading over his lips. "I love her."

He picked the box up and placed it on the workbench, gently taking out the harpoon heads and the cable, rubbing his hands with glee.

"Hold on Sparks, Whiplash'll be back and runnin' in no time at all!" He spoke, pulling his tools back out to work on the battered harpoon mechanism.

As he was about to begin, however, he heard footsteps coming to the cargo hold, and then her voice calling to him.

"Corso? Can I talk to you?" Zavvi stopped at the door, taking a good look at the mercenary, noticing the box she'd left for him now on the workbench, its contents scattered with the holocomm nearby, with the recording light off, and a weight lifted from her shoulders.

"Sure, Captain. I was just gonna repair with Whiplash with the materials you gave me. Where'd ya get them from?" He replied, his eyes now alight once more.

"Ah, that's my little secret." She smiled, tapping the side of her nose, before her arrogance bled away. "You watched the holo, didn't you?"

"I did, Captain." Riggs nodded. "But it weren't entirely your fault. I shoulda controlled myself-"

"Corso." She stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Remember we were both smashed. We both made mistakes, though I made the majority of them. I'm just glad nothing bad came out of it." She looked up at him. "Thank you. And I really mean that. If you hadn't snapped out of it...Well, I don't want to consider it."

"You're welcome." He smiled back. "Before you ask, Captain...Yeah, of course we're still friends. Like you said, it were just an accident."

For some reason, Zavvi felt her heat flutter.

"Good. Because you're a really great partner, and like I said, I'd hate for anything to come between us." The Twi'lek looked back to the workbench. "I best leave in peace to get on with your repairs, shouldn't I?"

"Don't you have more stuff to do with the ship, Captain?"

"I do. I need to completely overhaul her, which'll take about two days or so." She lifted one shoulder casually. "Risha will have to like it or lump it; there's no way I'm leaving my ba- I mean my ship in the condition that scumball left it in." Corso nodded. "So, I'll see you around, farm boy."

"Wait, Captain!"

Zavvi paused, turning back around with a confused and curious look on her face.

"Yes, Corso?"

He hesitated a moment, looking quite unsure of himself, before shaking his head.

"No, sorry Captain. It's nothing. I'll catch up with you later, yeah." She gave him a puzzled look before she shrugged and walked off to tend to her ship.

The Mantellian turned back to work on Whiplash, with a smile on his face. He knew that moment he'd fallen head over heels in love with the captain, making a promise to himself to do everything in his power to woo her.

Corso only wished he knew where he should begin...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

And so this monster was finally finished. After this one, I will not follow Zavvi and Corso's adventures from point to point, but rather focus on particular parts during their adventures together, such as Corso's conversations and other things.

Thank you to all those who reviewed this and my other one, 'Into the Fire', they always serve as encouragement to write more and do better.

Zavvi's saga is just getting started...


End file.
